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h6J APPLETONS’ 

Town and Country Library 

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JTLAW AND Lawmaker 


By Mrs. CAMPBELL-PRAED 

AUTHOR OF 

‘‘Christina Chard,” “ December Roses,” “ The Head Station,” etc., 
d joint author with Mr. Justin McCarthy of “The Ladies Gallery,” 
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BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 


“ December Roses.” i2mo. Paper, 
50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 

“ For nobility of conception, delicacy of touch, and 
sustained action, excels any of the author’s earlier efforts.” 
— Baltimore American. 

“ A bright little story, told with the author’s usual 
picturesque liveliness of coloring.” — London Literary 
World. 

“ Christina Chard.” i2mo. Paper, 
50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 

“ Mrs. Campbell-Praed has written several interesting 
novels, but none more thoroughly so and more exquisitely 
finished in style than ‘ Christina Chard.’ This novel is one 
to be studied as well as read.” — Boston Advertiser. 

“ The story is brightly written, is full ol wit and sar- 
casm, and Is sure to please the lover of spirited fiction.” — 
Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. 


New York: D. Appleton & Co., 72 Fifth Avenue. 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER 


A NOVEL 


MRS. CAMPBELL-PRAED 

AUTHOR OF 

CHRISTINA CHARD, DECEMBER ROSES, THE HEAD STATION, ETC., 

AND JOINT AUTHOR WITH MR. JUSTIN MCCARTHY OF THE LADIES GALLERY^ 

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, ETC. 



NEW 

D. APPLETON 


YORK 

AND COMPANY 


1894 




Copyright. 1892 , 

By TILLOTSON AND SON. 


Copyright, 1894, 

By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER^ 


PAGE 


1. — Elsie . 

IL — The legend of Barolin 

III. — Lord and Lady Horace at ho 

IV. — Elsie’s lover 

- V. — A GAUNTLET TO FATE . 

VI. — The coming of the prince 
VII. — “I FOLLOW MY star” 

VIII. — The member for Luya 


me 


] 

12 

19 

29 

41 

47 

61 


IX. — A BUSH house party 81 

X. — Jensen’s ghost 90 

XL — On the RACE-COURSE 97 

XII. — Beelzebub’s colours . . . . * . .106 

XIII. — “Hearts not in it” 112 

XIV. — “Are we enemies?” 123 

XV. — A verandah reception 133 

XVI. — Trant’s warning 144 

XVII. — In THE ladies’ gallery 152 

XVIII. — “ Ninon, Ninon, que jais tu de la vie ” . . 163 

XIX. — The club ball 173 


XX. — Lord Astar’s attentions 184 

XXI. — “At government house” 196 

XXII. — We are engaged to be married .... 207 

XXIII. — A SURPRISING announcement 2l8 

XXIV. — “ Good-bye, Elsie Valliant ” 227 

XXV. — “ The Colonial Secretary on the Luya ” . . 237 

XXVI. — “ Copy ” for Lady Waveryng 249 

XXVII. — “ The corroboree ” 254 

XXVIII. — “ I love you, Elsie ” 263 


(iii 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIX. — “Lady Waveryng’s diamonds” .... 272 

XXX. — “Abuse picnic” 280 

XXXI. — “Camping out” 291 

XXXII. — “The rock of the human head” . . . 301 

XXXIII. — Entrapped 304 

XXXIV. — The tragedy of the waterfall . . . . 309 

XXXV. — The “crater” prison 317 

XXXVI. — “The world may end to-night!” . . . 330 

XXXVII. — Broken off . . 340 

XXXVIII. — “The last Baron Coola” 350 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTER I. 

ELSIE. 

Anyone who has travelled through Australia will iden- 
tify the Leichardt’s Land of these pages, though in the map 
it is called difiPerently, with that colony in which the ex- 
plorer Leichardt met his tragic fate, and to a part of which 
he gave his name, and the same person, if he will examine 
the map, should have no difficulty in discovering the Luya 
district, which lies on the southern border of the colony in a 
bend of the great Dividing Range. 

The Luya, in its narrowest part, is fenced on almost three 
sides with mountains. Here the country is wild and mostly 
scrubby, intersected by spurs from the range, and broken by 
deep ravines and volcanic-looking gorges. There is scarcely 
any grazing land, and till Goondi Diggings were started, the 
Upper Luya was spoken of as the most picturesque district 
in Leichardt’s Land, but as offering the least attractions to a 
settler of any kind. Even the Goondi “ rush ” some few 
years back, though it had for a time let loose a horde of 
prospectors, did not do much towards populating this par- 
ticular nook below the Dividing Range. Goondi became 
a flourishing township and its output of gold continued 
steadily, but though other gold fields sprang up on the 
further side of the district, contrary to expectations no gold 
was discovered on the Luya waters, and prospectors had 
now given up the useless search. Moreover, Goondi was on 
the very edge of the district, across the highroad to the next 

( 1 ) 


2 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


colony, and beyond lay open country and fine stations for 
cattle and sheep. Goondi called itself the township for the 
Luya district, but as a matter of fact, the Luya had no 
especial head-centre. It is a secluded corner hemmed in by 
mountains, and though at no great distance from the capital 
of the colony and within easy reach of civilization, it is cut 
off by its geographical position from the main current of 
life and action. 

The river which waters the district has its rise in Mount 
Luya, the highest point of the range, then reputed inaccessi- 
ble to white men. There are strange fastnesses at the foot 
of Mount Luya — places where, report still declares, foot of 
European has never trod. The Blacks have a superstitious 
reverence, amounting to terror, for this region, and in the 
aboriginal mythology, if there be indeed any such. Mount 
Luya with its grey desolate crags and mysterious fissures, 
and, on either side, twin peaked Burrum and Mount Goondi 
with its ribbed rampart of rock and black impenetrable 
scrub, might well represent the lair of Demons or the abode 
of Gods. 

A few stray selectors had settled themselves at the head 
of the Luya on the small flats and wattle ridges that offered 
a certain scant subsistence for stock. But these selections 
had, for the most part, a suspicious reputation, as affording 
a convenient base of operations for cattle-stealing and such 
nefarious practices. Certainly, one or two of these petty 
land-owners might be credited with strictly honourable in- 
tentions, as, for instance, that unprofitable scion of aristoc- 
racy, Lord Horace Gage, who, more romantic than prac- 
tical, had been seduced by the beauty of the scenery and by . 
a keen artistic instinct, as well as by the fascinating pros- 
pect of hunting big game in the shape of wild horses, and 
of starting an industry in hides and horsehair. Or a guile- 
less new chum, such as Morres Blake, of Barolin Gk>rge, 
with a certain ironic humour described himself, taken in by 
an old hand who was eager to dispose to advantage of a 
property no seasoned bushman would buy. It may be 
added that Mr, Blake had accepted his bargain with resig- 


ELSIE. 


3 


nation. He turned the Gorge into a nursery for thorough- 
bred horses, and seldom visited the Luya, leaving the man- 
agement of affairs there to his working partner, Dominic 
Trant. Except, however, for these selectors’ homesteads, 
a great part of the Upper Luya belonged to the Hallett 
Brothers, and made portion of their station Tunimba — a 
troublesome bit of country in mustering time, when the 
broken gorges and undergrowth formed an almost impreg- 
nable refuge for “scrubbers.” 

Tunimba was one of the principal stations on the Luya, 
and extended beyond this mountainous region to the open 
country where was good grazing land, and where the ri\^er 
W'as no longer a shallow, uncertain stream brawling over 
miniature precipices, trickling through quicksands, or drop- 
ping into a chain of still, deadly-looking pools — except in 
flood-time, when it had a way of coming down from its 
source with amazing volume and rapidity. As the moun- 
tains widened out, the Luya widened and deepened, and 
flowed quite sedately through wooded pastures and the 
paddocks of well-kept head stations. Lower down it washed 
peaceful German plantations and the settlements of cedar- 
cutters, who floated their logs on its surface to the town- 
ship, below which it Anally emptied itself into the ocean. 

Of the squatters on the Upper Luya, the Hallett Brothers 
were perhaps the most important, and with the prospect of 
greater wealth in the future than any others of the settlers 
in the district. They were young and enterprising, and 
besides Tunimba, owned stations out west, which they 
worked in conjunction with their southern property. Tu- 
nimbah was always quoted as the most comfortable and 
best managed of the Luya stations. Young Mrs. Jem Hal- 
lett, the eldest brother’s wife, was considered a model house- 
keeper, and the most dressy woman in the district. She 
went to Leichardt’s Town for the Government House balls, 
and was a lady not slow to assert her pretensions, social 
and otherwise. Frank Hallett, the unmarried brother, was 
popular in the neighbourhood as a capital fellow and a 
clear-headed man of business. He was particularly popular 


4 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


with ladies, being a good match and a sociable person who 
got up races and picnic parties in slack times, and liked to 
amuse himself and other people, and he was vaguely known 
in the colony as a man of promise. He had been men- 
tioned in the newspapers and publicly congratulated by 
the Governor on having taken high honours at the Sydney 
University, and was considered a person likely to distin- 
guish himself in politics. He had gone through one elec- 
tion, and had been beaten with credit. Since then he had 
been biding his time and hoping that the Luya constituency 
might fall vacant. Yesterday there had seemed little pros- 
pect of this being the case. Now, in a few moments after 
the first shock of a tragic disclosure, he saw himself mem- 
ber for Luya, and at no very distant date leader of the Oppo- 
sition in the Leichardt’s Land Assembly. 

The disclosure was made by a girl. 

The girl was standing on a point of rock above the 
steep bank, at what was called Lord Horace’s Crossing. 
Lord Horace’s homestead, Luya Dell, lay behind her. The 
girl was Lord Horace’s wife’s sister. The crossing was one 
of Lord Horace’s fads. 

He had wasted a great deal of money and labour in 
making it more beautiful than Nature had already done, 
and that was quite unnecessary, for Nature had not been 
niggardly in her provisions. 

It was a creek fiowing down one of the many gorges of 
Mount Luya, The creeklet ran between high banks, mostly 
of grey lichen-covered rock — banks which curved in and 
out, making caves and hollows where ferns, and parasites, 
and rock lilies, and aromatic smelling shrubs grew in pro- 
fusion — banks that sometimes shelved upward, and some- 
times hung sheer, and sometimes broke into bastion-like 
projections or into boulders lying pell-mell, and it seemed 
only kept from crashing down by the binding withes of a 
creeper, or the twisted trunk of a chestnut tree or crooked 
gum. Then there were mysterious pools with an iridescent 
film upon their surface and dank beds of arums and fallen 
logs and rugged causeways, and the triumph of Lord Hor- 


ELSIE. 


5 


ace’s engineering skill, a bridge of unhewn stone that might 
have been laid in prehistoric ages by some Australian Titan. 

The girl stood framed between two great cedars* and out- 
lined against a bit of blue sky. Just here there was a gap 
in the mountains, and a long narrow flat, on the discovery 
of which Lord Horace prided himself, curved round a pro- 
jecting bluff and constituted the freehold of Luya Dell. It 
was Lord Horace who had christened the place. The girl 
might have postured as a model for some semi-allegoric 
Australian statue of Liberty. The cairn of rocks, patched 
with lichen and the red blossoms of the Kennedia creeper, 
and tufted with fern, made her a suitable pedestal. She 
was tall, slender, and lithe of limb, with something of the 
virginal grace and ease of a Diana, and her clinging hol- 
land gown was not an altogether un-goddess-like drapery. 
She had a red merino scarf twisted round her shoulders and 
waist, and wore a sort of toque of dark crimson upon her 
trim little head with its tendril fringe in front and knot of 
brown curling hair behind. Her face was oval in shape, 
though the features were not exactly classic. At this mo- 
ment she looked alert and expectant, her dark eyes were 
dilated and alight, and her red lips were slightly parted in 
an eager smile. There was a flush on her soft almost infan- 
tine cheek which was of the warm pale tint of a fruit 
ripened in the shade. She had one arm lifted, and beck- 
oned excitedly to Frank Hallett, whose pulses tingled at the 
sight of her. 

“ Stop,” she cried, “ I want to talk to you.” 

As if there were any power on earth except that she her- 
self wielded which just then would have kept him from 
stopping and talking to her ! He raised his hat, and put 
spurs to his horse. He did not trust himself to ^i*d Hor- 
ace’s bridge, which was in truth intended more for orna- 
ment than for use, but splashed through the shallow stream, 
and scrambled up the steep hill. She watched him leaning 
forward, raised in the saddle, one hand lightly clutching his 
horse’s mane, his eager face upturned to her. It was an at- 
tractive face, bronzed, wholesome, well-featured,, with clear 


6 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


eyes frank and straight looking, a pleasant smile, dark 
brown whiskers and moustache, and a square-cut shaven 
chin. He looked a typical bushman, with a little more 
polish than one associates with the typical bushman — had 
the hushman’s seat, and the hushman’s sinewy sapling-like 
figure. 

But the girl did not admire the typical bushman. She 
would have preferred the product of a more complex civili- 
zation. In this she resembled what indeed she was, the typ- 
ical Australian girl. She had not a very varied experience 
of the human product of a complex civilization. Her read- 
ing convinced her that she must not generalize by the speci- 
mens that drifted to Australia, and of which her own brother- 
in-law was an example. When she was in a discontented 
mood she always brought herself into a state of resigna- 
tion by reflecting that nothing would have induced her to 
marry Lord Horace Gage. 

“ Of course I might have married him if I had chosen 
to cut Ina out,” Elsie Valliant had always said to herself, 
with the complacent vanity of a spoiled beauty. “ But one 
must remember that there’s honour among thieves, and be- 
sides he is too great a bore for any one to put up with but 
Ina, who is a placid angel.” 

To be sure, if Lord Horace had been the heir to the Mar- 
quisate, instead of the youngest of many scantily portioned 
younger sons, Elsie might have altered her mind, for she 
had the reputation of being a very worldly and a very heart- 
less young lady. At any rate, this was what her rejected 
admirers declared. 

“He really is good-looking,” she thought now, as she 
watched Frank Hallett. And she added : 

“ It is such a pity that he is — only Frank Hallett.” 

“ Tell me, have you met Braile ? ” she questioned anx- 
iously, as he pulled up his panting horse and flung himself 
from the saddle. 

“ Braile— the postman ? No, I’ve been out on the run. 
I left Tunimba early.” 

“ That’s a pity,” said the girl. “ He is brimful of news 


ELSIE. 7 

— dying to communicate it to someone. Mrs. Jem will have 
a benefit when he gets to Tunimba.” 

“ Well, I have no doubt Edith will reward him by an 
extra glass of grog, and that the mail will be late at Corinda 
in consequence,” said Hallett. “ What has happened ? ” 

“ Braile is never late,” said the girl, not answering the 
question. “ He is wound up to carry the mails, and nothing 
short of a creek risen past his saddle flaps will stop him. I 
have a respect for Braile. The way in which he grasped 
the dramatic points of the situation was most admirable.” 

“ What is the situation ? You shouldn’t tantalize me. I 
believe it’s only some joke. Nothing really exciting now — 
is there ? ” 

Elsie nodded gravely. “Enough to excite Braile and 
Horace, and even Ina — and me. Enough to raise the dis- 
trict and to make you wish you were a bushranger, or the 
head of police, that you might be in the play-bill too.” 

“Then it’s Moonlight out again. Have they caught 
him ? ” 

“ It’s Moonlight, and if they had caught him should I 
say that you would like to be in his place ? ” 

“I suppose not. Not,” and the young man reddened 
and stammered and looked at her in a curious way — “ not if 
you cared two sti’aws about me.” 

He seemed to wait for her reply, but she only stared at 
the ground, gazing from her lofty position over his head. 

“ I wish you’d tell me why in any case I should wish to 
be Captain Moonlight.” 

“ Because he is a hero,’* said the girl. 

“ Do you think so ? Must one wear a mask and rob one’s 
neighbours to be a hero ? ” 

The girl made an impatient gesture. “ You don’t under- 
stand. You’ve no romance ; you’ve no ideas beyond the 
eternal cattle. You are quite satisfled to be a bushman — 
"^you are more humdrum even than Ina.” 

He did not answer for a moment : “ I am very anxious 
to know what the news was that old Braile brought. Look 
here, let me help you down from those rocks. You seem 


8 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


such miles above me. You look as if you had put yourself 
up for a landmark.” 

“ So I did. I thought my red shawl would attract atten- 
tion. I was trying how far I could see down the Gorge — 
wondering if anyone were in hiding there, and from how far 
they could see me. I was thinking how easy it would be to 

hide up in Mount Luya, and wondering” She stopped, 

and then taking his proffered hand, stepped from the pointed 
stone on which she had been balancing herself to a lower 
one, and so till she was on the level beside him. He finished 
her sentence— 

‘‘ Wondering if there was any chance of Moonlight com- 
ing along. How should you like to be carried off by him ? ” 

“ On his black horse Abatos ? ” 

“How do you know that his black horse is called 
Abatos ? ” 

“Ah, that’s part of Braile’s story. Moonlight hardly 
ever speaks, you know. It is the Shadow who conveys his 
orders and intentions. But that night Moonlight was heard 
to say one word as he rode towards the coach, and that was 
‘ Abatos. ’ ” 

“ Why his horse’s name ? Why not a new ‘ swear ’ ? ” 

“ Oh ! ” she said with a slight accent of contempt. “ Ask 
Horace to lend you his Lempriere.” 

Hallett flushed. “ I am not as ignorant as you think. I 
had forgotten for the moment. And so you would like to 
be carried off by the bushrangers ? ” 

“ I think I should like it immensely. I should enjoy the 
opportunity of talking to Moonlight and his masked hench- 
men. I shouldn’t be at all afraid of their not treating me 
in a gentlemanly and considerate manner. Only you see I 
shouldn’t be worth carrying off. Unless Mammie realized 
on the piano and the sewing-machine — we’ve not a stick else 
worth twopence — there would be nothing to ransom me 
with. And anyhow the piano and the sewing-machine 
would hardly run to a ransom.” 

“ Your brother-in-law ? ” suggested Hallett. 

“ Poor Horace has telegraphed to his brother-in-law. The 


ELSIE. 


9 


Bank will come down on the Dell unless Lord Waveryng 
sends him a thousand pounds at once. Leichardt’s Town, 
and the wedding trip, and the imported bull have cleared 
him out. No, I should be left to my fate.” 

“ That seems a melancholy state of things,” said Hallett, 
with an embarrassed laugh; “but in the event of such a 
calamity as your abduction by Moonlight, Miss Valliant, I 
think there are some of us fellows who wouldn’t think twice 
of selling the last hoof otf their runs to buy you back.” 

The girl laughed too, and blushed. “ Perhaps, after all, 
I shouldn’t want to be bought back. Now I am going to 
tell you ” 

She seated herself on the lowest boulder of the cairn, and 
he, holding his horse’s bridle, leaned against the cedar tree 
and listened. 

She began, “Goondi coach was stuck up on Thursday 
night.” 

“Ah! So that’s it. The brutes!” 

“ Do you mean the bushrangers ? No, they didn’t behave 
like brutes. Two men against a coachful. Think ! Peter 
Duncan, the millionaire, was on the coach, and Moonlight 
made him sign a cheque for £2,000 to be cashed at Goondi 
Bank.” 

“By Jove! ” exclaimed Hallett, “ that was cheek. Well, 
I’m glad it was Peter Duncan. The old miser. He de- 
serves it.” ' 

“ Moonlight only robs people who deserve to lose their 
money, and the Government, and the Banks, who don’t miss 
it,” went on Elsie imperturbably. “ He protects the widow 
and the orphan. There was a widow on the coach too. She 
was an old German woman, and she was hurrying down to 
Leichardt’s Town to say goodbye to her only son. He was 
to sail in The Shooting Star, and her only chance of seeing 
him was by catching the Goondi coach the next morning. 
She had her savings with her to give him. She otfered 
them all to Moonlight if he would get her into Goondi.” 

“ And he took them ? ” 

“ No,” cried the girl triumphantly. “ He gave them all 


10 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


back to ber. W^ell, Mr. Slancy was in tbc coacb. also, and 
be was in a bad way too. He bad got bitten by something, 
and was blood-poisoned, and be was going to tbe doctor.” 

“ Slaney tbe member ? ” 

“ Yes, tbe member for Lnya. Ob, I have been thinking * 
of something. I’ll tell you presently. I’m a wretch, but I 
can’t help it* Who could be sorry for Mr. Slaney ? ” 

“ You don’t mean ? ” 

“ Wait, wait. I must first prove to you that Moonlight 
is a hero. He and his Shadow — you know that’s what they 
call the other man— sacked the mail, got Mr. Duncan’s 
cheque, and then tied up the driver and the passengers each 
to a separate tree, some way off the road. You see Moon- 
light’s only chance of cashing his cheque was by being at 
the Goondi Bank directly it opened, before the coach was 
missed, or the telegraph wires could be set working.” 

“ I see. It struck me at first that it would have been 
safer to have had the cheque drawn on the Leichardt’s Town 
Bank ; but of course the other was his wisest plan. Moon- 
light is a shrewd fellow. Well, Miss Valliant, what is the 
rest of Braile’s story ? ” 

“ Ah, now comes the point. Think of the daring ! Moon- 
light meant to leave the coach and the passengers tied up 
till someone found them in the morning. The old German 
woman went on her knees to him and cried about her son. 
Mr. Slaney offered a cheque for £500 if only he would get the 
coach to Goondi. Mr. Slaney guessed that he was dying.” 

“ Dying I ” 

“Wait. Moonlight refused the cheque, but said that he 
would take Mr. Slaney’s word. Moonlight and his Shado.w 
had an argument. The Shadow told him he was a fool. 
It ended in Moonlight having his way. He gave his horse 
to the Shadow, mounted the box, and drove the coach to 
within a mile of Goondi, with Mr. Slaney and the German 
woman, leaving all the others tied up to their respective 
gum-trees.” 

“And then?” 

“ Then day was breaking. Moonlight turned the coach 


ELSIE. 


11 


off the road, fastened the horses, and remounted his own. 
Mr. Slaney was groaning with pain. The coach to Leich- 
ardt's Town, which the German womau wanted to catch, 
was to start at eight. The Bank opens at nine. You see 
what a risk it was. Moonlight explained the situation, and 
told them he would trust to their honour. He showed the 
German woman a cross-cut by which she could meet the 
down coach outside Goondi. Mr. Slaney gave his word 
that he would not give information to the police, and walked 
on to Goondi straight to the doctor’s house. Moonlight 
waited ” 

Elsie paused dramatically. 

“How do you know all these details ?” asked Hallett, 
struck by the vivid way in which the girl told her story. 

“ Mr. Slaney told the doctor afterwards. Brail e had got 
the particulars at Goondi. And it is easy enough to fill in 
from one’s imagination. I have been thinking of nothing 
else all day. I have been picturing Moonlight nerving 
himself to walk into the Bank, not knowing whether a 
policeman would be there to take him. It seems to me a 
brave thing to have staked one’s liberty on the honour of a 
poor old German woman and Mr. Slaney.” 

“ They were true to him ? ” 

“ Yes. At nine o’clock, when the Bank opened, a very 
respectably got-up and quiet-looking bushman went in and 
presented Mr. Duncan’s cheque, which he said had been 
paid him for a mob of store cattle. The Bank cashed it 
without question. Two hours afterwards it was all over the 
place that the Goondi coach had been stuck up, and Mr. 
Duncan bled of £2,000. But Moonlight and his Shadow 
and the respectably dressed bushman had disappeared.” 

“ And Mr. Slaney ? ” asked Frank Hallett. 

" “ Mr. Slaney,” repeated Elsie solemnly. “ Ah, this is 
what concerns you. The member for Luya died early this 
morning.” 


2 


12 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTER II. 

THE LEGEND OF BAROLIN. 

“ Ah ! ” Frank Hallett drew a long breath and stood in 
silent thought for a minute or more, Elsie watching him all 
the time saying nothing. The interest, half indignant, half 
admiring, and with a dash of the humorous in it, which 
Elsie’s account of the sticking up of the Goondi coach and 
the robbery of the miser-millionaire had excited, faded sud- 
denly, and gave way to a more personal and absorbing ex- 
citement. Moonlight’s depredations were certainly a mystery 
and a shame to the district, and to a Government which was 
supposed to protect the property of peaceable colonists. But 
the Luya squatters had got into a way of looking upon Moon- 
light’s misdeeds as not calling for very serious vengeance. 
He did not bail up their stations or steal their valuable cattle 
and horses, or frighten helpless women or respected inhab- 
itants. There was, indeed, a certain odd chivalry and dare- 
devilry of the Claude Duval kind in this masked miscreant 
with the soft voice and courteous manners, who flashed out 
on moonlight nights to stick up a gold escort and then disap- 
peared into the bowels of the earth, as it seemed, or into 
the thickets of Barolin Scrub. It was Moonlight’s pictur- 
esqueness which appealed to the romantic element in more 
prosaic natures than that of Elsie Valliant. If truth were 
told, Frank Hallett was not inclined to judge too harshly a 
bandit who, granted that he robbed, robbed “ on the square.” 
No, it was not of Moonlight that he was thinking, but of the 
fact suddenly borne in upon him that Mr. Slaney’s removal 
threw open the constituency of the Luya, and assured him 
of the opportunity for which he had been waiting, in order 
to begin his chosen career. In a flash he grasped the per- 
sonal signiflcance of Elsie Valliant’s words. The member 
for Luya was dead. He himself might now be the member 
for Luya. 

At the same moment a pang of remorse shot through 


THE LEGEND OF BAROLIN. 


13 


him, remorse that he could so allow himself to speculate on 
the beneficial results to himself of a fellow-creature’s death. 
But it was not in human nature that he could feel more than 
a passing pang. Mr. Slaney, though the chosen of the elec- 
torate, and the possessor of certain good qualities, as the 
Moonlight episode showed, was almost as unpopular in the 
district at large as the miser Duncan, whom everybody hated. 
Slaney had got into the Legislative Assembly on a reaction- 
ary wave, and through the vote of the Irish population on 
the Diggings. To Frank Hallett he had been privately and 
publicly obnoxious, and they had had more than one en- 
counter, not wholly of a political nature. Slaney had kept 
a bush inn, and had made his money, people said, by doctor- 
ing the grog. He was a queer, cross-grained person, given 
to hard drinking, and with his blood in the condition in 
which a bite from a horsefly might prove a fatal poison. 
Everyone knew that he would not be returned a second 
time, and everyone said that Frank Hallett’s election, should 
the seat become vacant, was a certainty. In a quick pro- 
phetic glance the young man saw himself in the position 
which he coveted — the leader of a party-— a future premier 
of Leichardt’s Land, a public personage whom the most 
ambitious girl in Australia might be content to own as her 
lover. 

Then, with a thrill of triumph, he realized that Elsie too 
must have grasped this point in the situation, and he saw 
that she had worked her narrative up to it with a distinct 
appreciation of its dramatic importance. She had waited for 
him at the Crossing that she might be the first to tell him 
the news. From this, he must infer that she was interested 
in him — Frank Hallett — and not in the feats of Moonlight, 
and, as she phrased it, the “ raising of the district.” She was 
interested in the way in which he would take the informa- 
tion— in the bearing of the incident on his future fortunes 
with which, perhaps, she already identified herself. She had 
divined his secret ambition. Might it not well be that she 
bad divined another ambition dearer and more secret still ? 

His breath came and went fast in the agitation of his 


14 : 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


fancied discovery and eager rushing hope. He had been 
looking away beyond the Crossing. Now he turned to her, 
and became aware that she was watching him. In an instant 
there was the shock of a recoil. The sweet indifference of 
her gaze, the mere friendly curiosity, the slight touch of 
feminine coquetry in her smile checked all his ardour, and 
made him draw back and pull himself together as though 
he had been hurt. He said very quietly: 

“ It is you who have grasped the dramatic points of the 
situation. Miss Valliant. I think you must have been giving 
Braile lessons.” 

She looked away from him and back again quickly. 

“ It interested me,” she said. “ I am interested in Moon- 
light. I should like very much to see him. But,” she added 
with a little laugh, “ even if he carried me off, as you sug- 
gested, I shouldn’t get a sight of his face. They say no one 
has ever seen him without his mask.” 

“ Perhaps be doesn’t wear it in his hiding-place,” said 
Frank. “ I am sorry for Slaney,” he went on in the same 
dulled tone. “ And I am glad he kept his promise to Moon- 
light. I shall always think better of him for that. Yes— I 
am sorry — though ” He paused. 

“ Well ? ” she said, “ Though ? ” 

Though of course his death gives me a chance of stand- 
ing for the Luya. Not that it matters so much. I should 
have got in for the northern district.” 

“ But this will be much nicer,” said she, demurely. “ You 
won’t have to go awa,y on electioneering tours, and being 
our own especial member, we shall have a right to order you 
about, and to be interested in your general career.” 

‘‘ Shall you really be interested in my career? ” he asked, 
bending a little toward her. She looked at him, letting her 
big brown eyes rest full on his for a moment or two. 

Why, yes, naturally, and as far as we are concerned, I 
assure you your duties as member of Parliament will be no 
sinecure. When Ina and Horace and I want anything from 
the Government— such as a mail twice a week or a railway 
to the Luya, or any little trifle of that sort, we shall expect 


TEE LEGEND OF BARdLIN. 


15 


you to make a fuss about it in the House. And then if the 
Governor does not give balls enough you will be responsible 
for not voting a sufficient entertaining allov^ance. And of 
course when you become a Cabinet Minister we shall want 
you to look after us at the public functions — find us seats in 
the special saloon Government carriage when there’s a Show 
or a Railway Opening. And we shall want to be asked to 
all the Government picnics down the bay. Oh, and I must 
insist on a seat on the dais — and no one looking askance at 
me as though I had no right to be there— at the Mayor’s ball. 
And I always did want to be a Minister’s wife, so that the 
Usher of the Black Rod might take me to my place at the 
Opening of Parliament.” 

“ One might suggest, perhaps, that an opportunity may 
present itself of securing these advantages,” said Hallett 
grimly. 

“ How ? ” 

“ Why ” Hallett reddened and stammered, abashed 

by her clear gaze. “ It would not be so difficult to marry a 
Minister, would it ? ” 

“Wouldn’t it ! But there doesn’t happen at present to 
be an unmarried member of the Executive. Still, as you 
suggest, one may live in hope. There will be new politi- 
cians coming on, and I may have a chance yet. I will wait 
for a change of Ministry. Then your party will be in— and 
you may be in too.” 

Her laugh, which was innocent and frank as that of a 
child, robbed her speech of its audacious coquetry. Elsie 
said things which no other girl could have said without in- 
curring the charge of being unmaidenly. No one would 
.ever have called Elsie unmaidenly, though they might have 
called her, and with a good show of reason, an unprincipled 
flirt, and in spite of her freedom of manner no man would 
have ventured upon an impertinence towards this young 
lady, who knew very well upon occasion how to maintain 
her dignity. 

“ You are laughing at me,” exclaimed Frank Hallett in 
a hurt tone. “You don’t think it is in me to become a 


16 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


leader. Well, we shall see. Yes, Miss Valliant, that’s my 
ambition and my intention. I mean to be a political leader, 
and I think that if a man has pluck and perseverance and a 
certain amount of brains, as well as a certain amount of 
money to make him independent of place, he is bound to 
get to the front and to make a position that he wouldn’t be 
ashamed to ofPer to a woman he cared for.” The young 
man’s voice shook. “ I think that before very long I shall 
be on the Ministerial bench, or at any rate in the front rank 
of the Opposition, and when that day comes I shall ask you 
for your congratulations.” 

‘‘And no one will give them with a more sincere heart 
than I,” said Elsie gravely. “ And you didn’t understand 
me, Mr. Hallett. I never meant to laugh at you, or to doubt 
you. Oh, I know well enough that you are considered a 
coming man. Mamma and Ina and Horace and heaps of 
other people have told me that of you.” 

She stopped and blushed. She knew, though Frank did 
not, why she in particular had had all Frank’s advantageous 
prospects impressed upon her. Oh, of course he would be a 
very good match for a penniless Leichardt’s Town belle, and 
her mother knew it, and Lord Horace, and Ina, and all the 
rest of their world knew it too. 

“ Thank you for saying that, Elsie ! If you only 

knew ” the young man began passionately. He came 

a step nearer her, but Elsie moved and put out her hand in 
a half laughing, half rebuking manner. 

“ But I don’t know, and perhaps I don’t want to know — 
there, never mind. ... I want you to tell me some- 
thing ” 

^ “ Tell you— what ? ” 

“ Oh, it’s nothing — only ” 

“ Tell me,” she went on with the slightest confidential 
movement. “ I’m so interested in Moonlight. Do you think 
it is true — what they say — that he has some secret hiding- 
place under Mount Luya ? ” 

“ How can I know, and why should I care 1 ” exclaimed 
Hallett exasperated. 


THE LEGEND OF BAROLIN. 


17 


“ I should have thought you would care, that you might 
have some idea if there really is such a hiding-place, for you 
are always about on the run, and they say no one knows 
the Upper Luya as well as you do.” 

“There might be any sort of cave or hiding-place up in 
the gorges by Barolin Scrub. Cattle don’t go there — except 
the regular scrubbers that it is no use trying to get at. 
They used to hunt there for gold. One of these prospect- 
ing chaps would have been more likely to come across it, or 
the Blacks ” 

“ Oh, but there’s a Black’s legend,” said Elsie eagerly. 

“ If you are going to make a legend out of a Black’s tale 
about the Bunyip or Debil-debil ! ” he said contemptu- 

ously. 

“ It is a legend, and quite a respectable, one. Yoolaman 
Tommy — King Tommy you know — told me. He says that 
close to Barolin Waterfall at the back there is another 
smaller waterfall, and beside it a huge black rock which is 
shaped like a man’s head with long grey moss growing upon 
it, so that it looks* as if it were a very old black man with 
grey hair and a. beard. Have you ever seen it ? ” 

“ No, Barolin Waterfall is a cul-de-sac. The water is 
supposed to come from the lake on the top of the mountain 
and the precipice cuts the mountain. They say the lake is 
the crater of an extinct volcano.” 

“ Let us make a picnic there sometime and try to find old 
Bai*61in — the Old Man of the Mountain. Do.” 

“ You couldn’t do it. I have never got to the waterfall 
myself, and I’m a pretty good rider and Pioneer as safe a 
horse in rough country as you’d find on the Luya.” 

Frank Hallett patted the big powerful bay who turned 
from rubbing his cheek against the cedar-tree, as if he knew 
that he was being talked about. 

“We might ride as far as we could and walk the rest of 
the way,” said Elsie. 

“ Walk five miles over the Luya rocks and through 
Barolin Scrub I There wouldn’t be much left of you. Miss 
Valliant.” 


18 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ I am determined that somehow or other I will see 
Barolin,’’ said Elsie, with the wilfulness of a spoilt child. 
“ Perhaps you don’t know why the scrub and the waterfall 
are called Barolin ? ” 

“ Did King Tommy tell you ? ” 

“ King Tommy told me that the white-haired old man 
was once a great chief who lived in Mount Luya and was a 
mighty man of war, against whom none of the other chiefs 
could stand. He got so powerful that he oflPended the great 
spirit Yoolatanah, and Yoolatanah turned him into a rock 
and shut him up behind the waterfall, which was called 
after him Barolin. The Blacks say that he sleeps, and only 
wakes when someone goes near the fall. Then he seizes 
them, and they are never seen or heard of again. So the 
Blacks will not go near Barolin or enter the scrub even at 
bunya time. ” 

“ I thought it was the Bunyip,” said Hallett laughing. 
“I know none of the Blacks will go near Barolin. They 
always say ‘Debil debil sit down there,’ and as there are 
any amount of bunyas in the scrub and none to speak of 
anywhere else, this superstition must be a pretty powerful 
one.” 

At that moment an Alpine call sounded from the other 
side of the creek. Elsie got up. “ That’s Horace. Now we 
shall hear something more about Moonlight.” 

“ Why are you so interested in Moonlight ? ” asked 
' Hallett jealously. 

“I have told you. Because he is a hero. Horace — 
Horace ; have they caught Moonlight ?” 


LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 


19 


CHAPTER in. 

LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 

Lord Horace was scrambling up the bank, leaning well 
over his saddle bow and clinging to his horse’s mane. His 
seat was a little uncertain, and it was evident that he was 
only a spurious sort of bushman, in spite of his rather elab- 
orate bush get-up of Crimean shirt, spotless moleskins, 
and expensive cabbage- tree hat. He had a stockwhip, too, 
coiled over his left arm, though he had made no pretence of 
going after cattle, and had indeed only a few stray beasts to 
go after. He was a tall, slight dark young man witli a pro- 
file somewhat after the Apollo Belvedere type, fine eyes, 
and a weak mouth. He was distinctly aristocratic looking, 
clipped his g’s after the English aristocratic fashion, and 
had certain little ways of his class, in spite of his efforts to 
be rough. He had an attractive manner, and apart from 
his wish to ape bushman’s habits, seemed quite without af- 
fectation. He looked, certainly, however, more suited for a 
London life than for that of an Australian settler, and it was 
equally certain from his physiognomy that he would never 
take the world by storm with his talents. 

‘‘Moonlight ! ” he cried out in answer to Elsie’s question. 
“ Been huntin’ for him all up the Luya. No chance what- 
ever of their findin’ him. I say, Hallett — How do you do, 
old chap. Let’s make a party — get some good black track- 
ers, don't you know ? and go out on the trail, eh ? — man- 
catching. It would be rare sport.” 

“ If you and Mr. Hallett were to do such a thing I’d 
never speak to you again,” said Elsie indignantly. 

“ Look here, she has been ravin’ about the fellow. I 
must say I think it was rather a fine thing refusing Slaney’s 
cheque, and trusting to his honour. Slaney’s honour ! Poor 
chap, he’s dead, so mustn't abuse him. You should have 
heard the fellows at the Bean-tree discussin’ your chances, 
Hallett. I suppose you are going to stand for the dis- 
trict?” 


20 


0 UTLA W A ND LA WMAKER. 


“ I suppose so,” Hallett answered. “ But,” lie added, “ it 
is too soon to talk about that with poor Slaney not yet in 
his grave.” 

“ Oh, nobody cares about Slaney. The king is dead, long 
live the king — that’s niy motto, and Slaney w^as a con- 
founded Eadical, hand and glove with the working man. 
I’m a working man myself, but I ain’t a Radical.” Lord 
Horace talked excitedly and rather thickly. Elsie looked 
at him, and drew her delicate eyebrows together in a 
frown. 

“ I think we had better walk on to the Humpey,” she 
said. “ Ina will be wondering what has become of us 
all.” 

“ Yes, come along, and have a refresher, and talk over 
things,” said Lord Horace. “ It’s a beastly ride from the 
Bean-tree. I went over to see if some of those selectors 
wouldn’t get their meat from me — might as well turn an 
honest penny, you know ; and I wanted to hear the 
news about Moonlight. Macpherson and his men are mad 
at his having given them the slip, and are scouring the 
country till they find his hiding-place. They’re mad, too, 
against poor Slaney, for not letting them nab Moonlight at 
the bank. By Jove, that was a neat trick, and I like old 
Slaney, though he was a beast. I like him for havin’ stood 
on the square to Moonlight. But come along, and let us 
talk it over. It’s canvassin’ I’m thinking of. I canvassed 
once for my brother-in-law Waveryng — before he was 
Waveryng, you know— got him in too with singing comic 
songs— I’m first rate afc ’em. By Jove, Waveryng isn’t half 
as grateful as he might be, or he’d do something for me 
now.” 

Lord Horace spurred his horse and cantered on execut- 
ing a series of Alpine calls to which there came a response 
from the house in the shape of a faint “ Coo— ee.” 

Frank Hallett did not mount, but walked beside Elsie, 
who was silent and looked worried. 

“ I forgot,” said Frank abruptly. ‘ ‘ I’ve got a note for you 
from Mrs. Jem. She wants you to come over next week, 


LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 


21 


and Lady Horace of course. I believe there’s to be a dance 
or something at Tunimba.” 

“I’m going home next week,” said Elsie. 

“But you can wait for that. Nobody wants you in 
Leichardt’s Town.” 

“ Heaps of people want me, and heaps of things. Mamma 
wants me ; my winter gowns want me, and the fruit wants 
me. It has to be made into jam, and my dresses have to be 
made ; there’s nobody to do them but me. You see In a 
used to be the practical person among us — the Prime Min- 
ister, the di’essmaker, and the cook all in one. And now 
Ina is gone.” 

“ Oh, but haven’t you ? ” Frank began and stopped 

awkwardly. 

“ Haven’t we a cook ? you were going to say. No, we 
haven’t. Mammie and I do the cooking for each other, and 
a nice mess we make of it, and the Kanaka boy who does 
the garden cleans the pots and pans. Now you know all 
about it. Have you any idea, Mr. Hallett, what Mammie 
and I have to live upon ? ” 

“ No — that is, I didn’t imagine of course that you were 
millionaires.” 

“ We’ve got exactly one hundred and twenty-five pounds 
a year, not counting the garden produce — a hundred and 
twenty-five pounds a year to pay our rent and to feed and 
clothe our two selves and buy all the necessaries of civiliza- 
tion. I suppose I pass as a civilized young person out in 
Australia, though I am quite sure I shouldn’t if you put me 
down in London society. Oh dear, I wonder if I shall ever 
have a taste of London society. ’’ 

“ How you always harp on England,’* said young Hallett. 

“ Well, isn’t it supposed to be the Paradise of Australian 
girls, as they used to say Paris was to Americans ? I’m 
certain that one of the reasons Ina married Horace was 
because she thought he might take her to England. I can’t 
imagine any other.” 

Frank laughed. “ Oh, he’s a very good fellow, though 
he is a lord, as they say about here. But why do you say 


22 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


that your sister married him because she wanted to go to 
England? She is not ambitious, she doesn’t care about that 
sort of thing. She is not ” 

“ Not like me,” Elsie interrupted. “ If I were onl^^ half 
as good as Ina.’’ 

“She married him, I suppose, because she loved him,” 
Hallett went on uneasily. 

“ Do you think he is the kind of person a girl would 
fall in love with ? ” said Elsie. 

“ Why not ? He is very handsome, and he has nice 
manners.” 

“ And he is horribly selfish, and he is shallow — as shallow 
as the creek at the Crossing. Mr. Hallett, do you know I 
am worried about Ina. I don’t think somehow she is very 
happy. But she is much too proud and much too good to 
own it.” 

Hallett looked uncomfortable. His memory went back 
to a certain day not many months back — a day when he 
had confided to Ina Valliant the love he felt for her sister 
Elsie, and of which he never could think without a painful 
twinge, a horrible suspicion that she had once cared for 
him herself. It was true he had no reason for the suspicion 
—nothing but a stified exclamation, a quiver of the voice a 
sudden paling. The suspicion had been joyfully lulled to 
sleep, when a month or so afterwards she had accepted Lord 
Horace, and when she had told him again, and this time 
firmly and unfalteringly, that she would do everything in 
her power to further his suit with Elsie. And she had done 
everything she could. She had asked him over repeatedly, 
had been sweet, frank, and sister-like, and had seemed abso- 
lutely satisfied. And yet when Elsie said that Ina was not 
happy, he knew that she was only echoing his own miser- 
able thought. 

“ Tell me,” he said, “ why do you fancy that ? Isn’t he 
good to her ? ” 

“ Oh, yes. He is always making love to her, if you call 
that being good. It is really quite embarrassing some- 
times, and if I were Ina I wouldn’t have it. And then he 


LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 


23 


flies out because the dinner isn’t quite right, or because 
some little stupidity is wrong, and sulks like a spoiled child. 
Its because Ina doesn’t sulk too — because she puts up with 
his pettishness so angelically, and takes such pains that 
everything shall be right next time, that I am sure she isn’t 
happy. It’s unnatural.” 

“ Surely it’s very natural if she cares for him.” 

Poor. Ina,” said Elsie, softly. “^iV^ell, she is happy 
enough, apparently, when she is fidgetting after the chickens 
and furbishing up her doll’s house.” 

“ It does look a little like a bush doll’s house,” said 
Frank. 

They were close to the Humpey now. It was a queer 
little slab place, roofed with bark, standing against a back- 
ground of white gum-trees, which, with their tall, ghost- 
like trunks and sad grey foliage, gave a suggestion of dreari- 
ness and desolation to the otherwise cosey homestead. Lord 
Horace had made the best of the Humpey. It had been a 
stockman’s hut, two slab rooms and a lean-to ; and now 
another hut had been joined to it, which was Lord Horace’s 
kitchen, and there were sundry other lean-to’s and strag- 
gling shanties, which served for guest-rooms and meat-stores. 
The verandah of the Humpey had an earthen floor, and the 
posts were of barked saplings. But there were creepers 
growing around the posts and festooning the bark roof, and 
there were stands of ferns against the slab walls, and squat- 
ters’ chairs with crimson cushions which made splashes of 
colour. Lord Horace’s chair had a glass of some spirituous 
concoction on its arm-table, which bis attentive wife had 
just brought to him, and he was filling his pipe, while Ina, 
who was only a few degrees less lovely than Elsie, leaned 
against the post, and waited submissively to be told the 
day’s news. Lord Horace took a great deal of credit to 
himself for having left the Humpey in its original state of 
I’oughness. “ Some fellows, you know, would have gone to 
no end of expense in cartin’ cedar and shinglin’ and paint- 
in’, and spoilin’ a really good Australian effect,” he was 
wont to say. “ That’s the worst of you Australians, you’ve 


24 


OUTLA JV AND LA WMAKER. 


got no sense of dramatic fitness. And that’s what I say to 
Ina and Elsie when they want me to fill up the chinks be- 
tween the slabs, and put in plate glass windows. A bush 
hut is a bush hut, and there’s something barbarous in the 
idea of turning it into a villa. Wait till I’ve finished my 
stone house. Then you shall see something really comfort- 
able and harmonious, too. In the meantime, if we can’t be 
comfortable, let us at least be artistic. ” 

Those were Lord Horace’s sentiments. 

The new house had come to a standstill for want of funds 
after the foundations had been laid, and it was not likely to 
get beyond the foundations, unless Lord Waveryng sent out 
further supplies ; but Lord Horace talked of it with as proud 
a certainty as if an army of master builders were already at 
work. 

Lady Horace came slowly down the log steps, and held 
out her hand to Hallett. 

“ How do you do? ” she said, in her gentle little Australian 
drawl. “I’m very glad you have come. Elsie was saying 
yesterday that we were so dull.” 

“That’s because we’re on our honeymoon yet,” put in 
Lord Horace. “ Elsie says it’s quite disgusting the way we 
spoon.” 

Frank Hallett noticed that Lady Horace fiushed a bril- 
liant red, and interpreted the blush as a favourable sign. 
Oh yes, she was happy. She must be happy. If she had 
not been happy she could not have answered so composedly. 

“We were planning to take Elsie over to Tunimba to see 
Mrs. Jem Hallett, before she goes down to Leichardt’s Town. 
But we’re a little frightened of Mrs. Jem, because she is so 
.dreadfully grand, and she might be vexed if we went with- 
out a formal invitation.” 

“ Here is the formal invitation, anyhow,” said Hallett, 
and he produced his sister-in-law’s note, and gave it to Lady 
Horace, who duly handed it to her husband, and it was there 
and then settled that they would go. 

Frank Hallett had brought something else for Ina — 
some of the famous Tunimba figs, which were now going 


LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 


25 


off, and lie had brought a book for Elsie, and while these 
offerings were being unpacked and commented on, he 
studied Lady Horace’s face. Ina was not so pretty as her 
sister. She was not so tall, her colouring was less brilliant, 
she was much quieter. It was a wonder people thought that 
Lord Horace, who was a fastidious person, had fallen in love 
with her instead of with the all-conquering Elsie. But Elsie 
had snubbed him, and Ina was besides very pretty and very 
much more docile than her sister. She had a sweet little 
serious face, with a peculiarly delicate complexion, and a 
tender resolute mouth. The fault of her face lay in the 
light eyelashes and eyebrows, which gave her a certain 
insipidity. She had a very gentle manner, and she did not 
talk much, not nearly as much as Elsie. 

She had been only four months married. Hallett asked 
her how she liked the Dell, and she told him in her child- 
like way all about her chickens, and her pigs, and the new 
garden, and the pump Lord-Horace was making, and other 
domestic details. And she asked him various questions 
about the working of Tunimba and Mrs. Jem Hallett’s man- 
agement, which showed that she had thrown herself entirely 
into her bush life. 

He said something to this effect. 

“ Yes,” she answered. “ I want to make the Dell as much 
a model of a place in its small way as Tunimba is in its big 
way. And then, you know, Horace isn’t like a regular bush- 
man, he must have his little English comforts ” 

“Which he insists on combining with his Australian 
dramatic effects,” put in Hallett, “ and that must make man- 
agement a little difficult for you. Lady Horace.” 

Ina laughed. “ Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “ Now I 
want to show you the last improvement,” and she took him 
into the sitting-room, which was a very cosey and picturesque 
place, though the walls were only of canvas stretched over 
the slabs, and the ceiling, of canvas too, was stained with 
rain droppings from the bark roof. Lord Horace had been 
amusing himself by drawing in sepia a boldly-designed 
flight of swallows along one end of the room. 


26 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“Not strictly appropriate to Australia, my dear fellow, 
but I couldn’t stand the papers they showed me. I have 
sent home for something a little more artistic. It should be 
parrots, of course, or satin- birds, and, by the way, those beg- 
gars of satin-birds have gobbled up all our loquats — but my 
imagination wouldn’t soar, and In a is not inventive. I'm 
trainin’ her faculties, but by slow degrees.” 

Ina flushed again. Between the flushes she was — so 
Hallett noticed — alarmingly pale. And surely she had got 
thinner. But she had taken ever so much pains over the 
arrangement of the drawing-room, which was in truth ex- 
ceedingly pretty and full of English odds and ends, from a 
portrait of Lady Waveryng in full court dress to an antlered 
stag’s head over the doorway. Ina was proud of her charm- 
ing room, though she gave Elsie all the credit of the ar- 
rangement. “It was always Elsie who did the prettinesses,” 
she said, “ whether it was in our ball dresses or our parlour. 
Elsie has only to put her hand to a thing and it gets some- 
how the stamp of herself. I was never good for anything 
'but the useful things.” 

Lord Horace sat down to the piano, which was a fine 
instrument and was littered with music, and struck a few 
chords. “You must hear my newest thing. It’s one of 
those spirited bush ballads of William Sharp’s, and I’ve set 
it to music. Ina and I sat up till all hours last night prac- 
tisin’ it.” 

“Yes,” interjected Elsie, “and you made poor Ina faint 
by keeping her standing so long.” 

“ I wanted her to have some port wine,” answered Lord 
Horace, “and she wouldn’t. It was her fault, wasn’t it Ina 
dear?” 

“ Yes, it was my fault,” said Ina. “ I didn’t take the port 
wine in time.” 

“Well, never mind,” said Lord Horace, “she shall have 
some port wine now to make up.” He rushed on and 
brought the wine, which he made her swallow in spite of 
her protests. That was Lord Horace’s way. A glass of port 
wine for a woman, and a brandy and soda for a man, were 


LORD AND LADY HORACE AT HOME. 


27 


his notion of a panacea for ills of body and mind. When 
Ina had drunk her wine he began his accompaniment again 
and burst into the song. He had a fair baritone, and sang 
with a certain manner as of one who knew what he was 
about. He put a good deal of dramatic go into the rattling 
words — 

“ O’er the range and down the gully, across the river bed, 

We are riding on the tracks of the cattle that have fled: 

The mopokes all are laughing, and the cockatoos are screaming. 
And bright amidst the stringy barks the parrakeets are gleaming. 
The wattle blooms are fragrant, and the great magnolias fair 
Make a heavy sleepy sweetness in the hazy morning air ; 

But the rattle and the crashing of our horses’ hoofs ring out. 

And the cheery sound we answer with our long-repeated shout.” 

And then came the chorus which the four took up — 

“ Coo-ee — Coo-ee — Coo-ee — Coo-ee ! ” 

“My dear Horace,” said Hallett, “why didn’t you try 
for fortune in the light operatic line ? You are much better 
suited for that than for roughing it in Australia.” 

“I did think of it,” replied Lord Horace seriously; “but 
the light operatic line is played out in England, there’s no 
chance for anybody now. And then one’s people would 
have thought it infra dig. They’re old-fashioned, you know 

don’t go in for modern innovations— the stage cult and 

that sort of thing. It’s not a bad notion of yours, though— 
an opera of bush life— openin’ chorus of stockmen and bush- 
rangers, and Moonlight for a hero. It might pay better 
than free-selecting on the Luya.” 

“ It might well do that,” said Elsie, who was rather fond 
of a passage-at-arms with her brother-in-law. 

Lord Horace caught her round the waist and gave her a 
twirl into the verandah. “ A waltz— a waltz, Ina,” he cried. 
Ina played. There were some blacks outside who clapped 
their hands and cried out “ Budgery ! ” and the pair stopped 
to have what Lord Horace called a “yabber.” Hallett and 
Ina were left alone. She let her hands fall from the piano, 

O 

o 


28 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and lier sweet serious eyes met his. “ Mr. Hallett,” she said, 
‘‘I think you ought to make haste.” 

“Tell me what I ought to do. Lady Horace.” 

“ I think you ought to make Elsie understand how much 
you care for her.” 

“ I have tried to do that. You were wrong. She doesn’t 
care for me.” 

“I thought she did,” said Ina faltering. The break in 
her voice reminded him of the break in it that day. Per- 
haps she was thinking of this, too. She went on in a differ- 
ent tone, “You must not judge Elsie as you would another 
girl. She is horribly proud, and she is horribly reserved, 
and she is horribly perverse. Oh, I know all my Elsie’s 
faults.” 

“ Tell me, Lady Horace, what made you think that she 
cared for me ? ” 

Ina hesitated, and her soft colour came again. “ I don’t 
think I can do that quite, Mr. Hallett.” 

“Tell me,” he urged. 

She looked at him, and turned away her head. “Yes, 
I’ll tell you,” she said, in a forced sort of voice. “ It was — 
do you remember that day at Tunimba — before I was en- 
gaged — when you told me that you were so fond of Elsie ? ” 

“ Yes,” he answered, and his voice too was strained. 

“ It was just after that, that Horace — that I began to 
think I might marry Horace. One day when Elsie teased 
me about it — she never cared very much for Horace, you 
know, though Mammie liked him so much — we spoke of 
you— and Elsie told me that you were the only man she had 
ever known whom she could fancy herself marrying. She 
told me that she had once fancied — before Horace came on 
the scene, you know ” — Ina laughed a little unsteadily — 
“ that you had had a — a regard for me. It was absurd, wasn’t 
it ? — and that the idea had made her unhappy and snappish 
to me, and that she had hated herself for minding. But 
she had minded. That meant a great deal from Elsie.” 

At that moment Lord Horace and Elsie came in. 

“ Mr. Hallett,” she exclaimed, “ I have been telling 


ELSIE'S LOVER. 


29 


Horace that we are to have a picnic from Tunimha to the 
Barolin Waterfall.” 

“ Elsie is determined to find Moonlight’s lair,” said Lord 
Horace. “Well, I’m on for any fun of that sort. Talking 
of Barolin, do you know the people there, Trant and Co. ? ” 

“ Blake and Trant,” said Hallett. “ It’s Blake who is the 
boss, they say. But how anyone who wasn’t quite a fool 
could have bought Barolin Gorge ! ” 

“ They say Trant is doing a good thing with his horses, 
though,” said Lord Horace. “ Do you know the chap ? He 
was at the Bean-tree to-day. I didn’t fancy him. Looked 
to me like one of those low-bred half-Fenian fellows. I saw 
’em when I went salmon fishin’ with Waveryng to Ireland. 
I was wondering whether Blake could be one of the Blakes 
of Coola.” 

“ Coola ! ” repeated Hallett. 

“ Blake of Coola is about as old a name as there is in Ire- 
land. Castle Coola was close by our river. Lord Coola was 
a friend of Waveryng’s. I never met him. The Castle was 
shut up the only time I went over. It is a common enough 
name though.” 

“ I believe my sister-in-law has asked Mr. Trant over to 
Tunimha,” said Hallett. 

The bell rang for dressing. Lord Horace took his guest 
over to what was by courtesy called the Bachelor’s Quarters. 
There was only one spare room in the Humpey, and that 
was occupied by Elsie Valliant. 


I CHAPTER IV. 

; ELSIE’S LOVER. 

They were sitting down to dinner when the barking of 
: the dogs announced an arrival. Presently the woman in 
the kitchen came in with a slip of paper, on which was writ- 
I ten, “ Dominic Trant, of Barolin.” 

I • 


30 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ By Jove ! ” exclaimed Lord Horace, “ lie lias taken me 
at my word. Saw him at the Bean-tree to-day, and asked 
him to look us up, if he was passing. He said he was going 
straight on to-night.” 

Elsie looked excited. “Dominic Trant ! Dominic — 'what 
an odd name ! ” 

Lord Horace brought his guest in. Mr. Trant was rather 
a good-looking man of from thirty to thirty-five. Elsie de- 
cided first that he was distinctly Irish, secondly that he was 
not quite a gentleman. If he had been a gentleman he 
might have sat for one of Velasquez's pictures, but there was 
a certain commonness about him which destroyed the effect 
of his otherwise artistic appearance. He had an accent too, 
and Elsie detested a brogue. But he had fine black eyes, 
and a well-featured sallow face. His manner was rather 
elaborate. He called Lady Horace “ Your Ladyship,” but 
after the first time or two dropped into familiarity, and 
was almost free and easy. He scarcely took his eyes off 
Elsie. 

He explained his arrival. He had stopped late at the 
Bean-tree, later than he had intended. The fact was he had 
waited for a telegram from his partner Blake, who was 
thinking of coming up to Barolin. 

“ Your partner doesn’t pay many visits to Barolin,” said 
Frank Hallett. 

“ Well, no,” replied Mr. Trant. “ Blake was rather taken 
in over Barolin, that’s the truth. He was disgusted, and 
turned the whole shop over to me. It’s a fiddling little 
place is Barolin, and dull as ditch-water. ” 

“ I expect it will be livelier now that the police are turn- 
ing out on the Upper Luya to hunt for Moonlight,” said 
Lord Horace. 

“ Oh, Moonlight! ” said Mr. Trant with a laugh. “Do 
ye think they’ll catch him ? ” 

“ They won’t, unless the squatters lend a hand,” said Hal- 
lett; “and it’s a queer thing, but the squatters don’t seem so 
down on Moonlight as you’d suppose. He hasn’t bailed up 
any of them yet.” 


I 

ELSIE'S LOVER. 31 

“ They’ll not catch him,” said Mr. Trant. “ Anyhow I’ll 
•i' lend ’em a hand at it.” 

I Elsie looked at him with an expression of dislike. 

! Trant, whose eyes met hers, noticed it, and coloured. 

' “ You don’t want him to be caught. Miss ? ” he said. 

I “ No,” said Elsie decidedly. He is a picturesque figure. 

We haven’t much that is picturesque in the bush.” 

I “Surely!” said Lady Horace, “we can be picturesque 
! without bushrangers.” 

i The talk w’^ent on about Moonlight. Lord Horace got 
i excited. “A man hunt.” That was what he wanted. Big 
game! You needed sportsmen to take the thing up proper- 
ly. The police w^ere duffers. And now that there was 
going to be an election no one would bother about Moon- 
light. Frank Hallett would be responsible if any of the 
* Luya stations were bailed up. 

Mr. Trant looked interested. He turned the conversa- 
I ' tion on to the election, and they discussed the probability of 
: the Irish vote carrying it in favour of the Radical member. 
|> He asked a good many questions as to the strength of the 
Irish vote, the predominance of Radicalism among the 
! : Goondi diggers, . and the political leanings of the Luya 
; selectors. Hallett fancied that the man meant to draw him, 

; and showed Mr. Trant that he did not intend to be drawn, 
t Elsie also scenting Trant’s motive, though she could not 
account for it — surely he could not be thinking of opposing 

■ Hallett — plunged into the talk. She had hitherto been very 
silent. 

“ Do you ever go to Leichardt’s Town, Mr. Trant ? to the 
' balls, I mean ? ” 

F Trant looked at her admiringly from under his heavy 
J brows. “I leave that kind of thing to my partner. Miss 

■ Valliant. He is more of a ladies’ man than I am. Per- 
haps,” he added, “ I’ve never had any great inducement till 

1 now to stay in Leichardt’s Town.” 

“ I have never met Mr. Blake,” said Elsie ignoring the 

■ implied compliment. 

[ “ Blake goes across the border when he wants a spree,” 


32 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


answered Mr. Trant. “He runs down to Sydney, and he is 
rather a card there, I can tell you. I shouldn’t wonder 
though if he were in Leichardt’s Town a good deal this 
winter.” 

“ It is going to be a very gay winter, isn’t it ? ” put in 
Lady Horace. “ The Prince is really coming, and there will 
be the new Governor, and we shall have a lot of balls. Elsie 
and I are going to have a good time — just like the old 'times, 
before I married.” 

She got up as she spoke, and went into the parlour. The 
night was warm, as March nights are, and there floated in 
the fragrance of the stephanotis, which twined one of the 
verandah posts. Elsie sauntered into the verandah. Lady 
Horace was going to follow her, but when she saw that 
Hallett had come out of the dining-room, evidently with 
that intention, leaving Lord Horace and Mr. Trant, she drew 
back and let Hallett pass her. 

Elsie had gathered a spray of the stephanotis, and was 
stroldng her lip with one of the waxen flowers. 

“ How do you like Mr. Trant ? ” asked Hallett, abruptly. 

“ I don’t like him at all,” she answered. “ I hate a man 
who calls me ‘ Miss,’ and looks at me in that fashion.” 

“ I am sorry that Edith asked him to Tunimba.” 

“Why did she do that?” 

“ She said we had been unneighbourly, and that she had 
heard Mr. Blake was a very charming man, and that for 
his sake we were bound to be civil to his partner. You 
know Edith rather likes to play the part of great lady of the 
district.” 

“ She does it very nicely. She is so amiable and proper, 
and well-dressed, and well-read, and all the rest. She 
always says the right thing when she is in society. Do you 
know, I think Mrs. Jem Hallett is rather wasted as the wife 
of a Luya squatter.” 

“ I see you don’t like Edith. But never mind. You will 
come over, won’t you, and leave the jam to take care of 
itself for another week ? ” 

“ I will come on one condition.” 


EL8JKS LOVER. 


33 


“ What is that ? ” 

“ That you take me to Barolin Waterfall.” 

“ I am afraid that you will find it a rougher expedition 
than you bargain for. It will mean a night’s camping 
out.” 

“ So much the better. I have never camped out in my 
life. Promise.” 

“ I promise, if not now, at some future time.” 

“ Why not now ? ” 

“ The river is up, you know, and then it’s very difficult 
to get a black boy w^ho will go near the Falls. But I will 
do my best. Do you think there is anything in the world I 
wouldn’t try to do if you asked me ? ” 

Elsie’s eyes were like stars as she turned them upon him. 
It was a way of hers to answer a question with her eyes. 
But presently she said thoughtfully, “I don’t know.” 

“ What is it that you don’t know ? ” he asked : “ Don’t 
you know that I would do anything in the world for you ? ” 

“ Without any reward ? ” she said coquettishly. 

“There would always be the hope of a reward — the 
hope ” 

“ Ah ! ” she exclaimed, cutting him short. “ You are not 
disinterested. No one is. There is always the hope of a re- 
ward. I am tired of it all.” 

She moved away from the verandah post as she spoke, 
and tossed the sprig of stephanotis from her. It fell on the 
edge of the steps, and he stooped and picked it up. She sat 
down on a squatter’s chair at the end of the verandah 
furthest from the drawing-room. The other men had come 
out of the dining-room. Mr. Trant was talking to Lady 
Horace. Lord Horace came to the door and called out 
“ Elsie.” 

“Well?” 

“ Come along in. Let us do Sharp’s chorus. Trant says 
he has got a voice.” 

“ Trant ! I wish Horace wouldn’t let him be so familiar,” 
murmured Elsie sotto voce. “ Please ask Mr. Trant to try a 
solo. I can’t sing choruses so soon after dinner.” 


34 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


“ Oh, don’t go in,” pleaded Hallett. 

“It’s too hot inside,” Elsie went on, speaking to her 
brother-in-law. “ Let us stop here and he comfortable.” 

“ Well, you are ’’—Lord Horace began to protest, but was 
called off by his wife. 

“ What are you tired of ? ” asked Hallett, abruptly, as he 
seated himself on the edge of the verandah, almost at Elsie’s 
feet. 

“ Oh, I don’t know. Tired of people— people who — who 
do everything from personal motives, tired of stupid speeches, 
and compliments, and all that.” 

“Tired of being made love to,” he said bitterly — “that’s 
what you mean — of being made love to by men you don’t 
care for.” 

“Well,” said Elsie quietly stroking her dress, “a good 
many men do make love to me, you know, and I can’t say 
that they are profoundly interesting as a body.” 

“ And there are no exceptions — not even one ? ” he ex- 
claimed. “ Does no one interest you ? ” 

Elsie looked up swiftly, and went on stroking her dress 
again. “ I should like to be made love to by some man who 
didn’t care in the least what I thought of him— a man who 
would go on his own way straight as a die— not turning as 
you all do, to right or left, at a woman’s beck— a man with 
a purpose and a destiny— I don’t think I should mind 
whether it was a good purpose or a bad one— a magnificent 
destiny or a terrible one— only it must not be small or mean ! 
Oh, a man who would follow his star at all costs. That is 
the man I should like to know.” 

“Go on,” said Hallett. “Tell me more of what you 
would like in the man who made love to you.” 

“ He must never pay me a compliment,” said Elsie. “ He 
must not want to do what I wish. He must make me do 
what he wishes. He must be my master.” 

“Oh,” exclaimed Hallett, impatiently, “that is a Jane 
Eyre-ish idea. No man who truly loves a woman can be 
her master. To love is to be a slave.” 

“ How do you know that ? ” 


ELSIE'S LOVER. 


35 


“ Because I love you, and because I am ybur slave. Elsie, 
how long is it to go on ? I can’t stand much more.” 

‘‘ It shall end to-night if you wish it,” she answered. 

“ But how ? But how ? ” he cried. 

“ In this way.” She bent a little towards him and spoke 
very distinctly. 

‘‘ I shall say to you, ‘ Mr. Hallett, I am very grateful to 
you for caring for me, and I am honoured by your affec- 
tion ! ’ That is how the nice girls talk in novels.” 

“ Bah ! ” He gave his shoulders an impatient shake. 

Elsie went on, “ I am not worthy of your affection. I 
am a spoilt, heartless young woman, who has never loved any- 
body in her life— except Mammie and Ina — after a fashion. 
I don’t think it is in me to love any man — unless he was the 
kind of man I have described — the kind of man who isn’t 
at all likely to come my way. I am very selfish and very 
frivolous and very mercenary and very ambitious ” 

“ No,” he said doggedly ; “ I am not going to believe that. ” 

“ It is true though, all the same. The only thing that I 
care about is excitement. I should die of dullness in the 
Bush. I am nearly dead of dullness now. If I were a man 
I should fight battles ; I should intrigue ; I should do reck- 
less things. As I am a woman, all I can do to amuse myself 
is to make men fall in love with me, and so gratify my sense 
of power, till ” She paused. 

“ Go on — till when ? ” 

“Till they want what I don’t want to give — till they 
want to come close to me— and paw me — and all the rest.” 

“Elsie, you are horrid.” 

“Yes, I know that I am,” she replied composedly. “ But 
you know that you are all alike. You all want to paw me. 
Then I hate you. And what is worse, I hate myself.” 

“ At any rate, you are frank enough.” 

“ It is almost my only virtue, and as you $ay I make the 
most of it.” 

“ Go on with the rest that you were going to say to me.” 

“ I would say, ‘ And so, Mr. Hallett, being this sort of 
person, and being so wholly despicable and so utterly un- 


36 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


worthy of you, who are so highly estimable — and respecting 
you so truly ’ ” 

“ Oh, Elsie, don’t laugh at me ! ” 

“ I’m not laughing at you. I mean every word. You 
can’t imagine how truly I respect you. ‘ And so ’ — that’s 
how I would wind up — ‘ I’m not worth dangling after any 
longer, and you had better find some other girl who will 
be less frank, perhaps, but who will, at any rate, give you 
something better worth having than what I can give you.’ ” 

“ Will you tell me first exactly what that is ? ” 

“ Honest friendship, and a dash of — how shall I call it ? — 
affection.” 

“ That’s something gained, anyhow,” he exclaimed. “ I’m 
not a bit discouraged; I feel that I have made headway. 
You said that you were quite frank with me three months 
ago, and you told me then that there was no affection.” 

“ I didn’t know you so well three months ago. I hadn’t 
had an opportunity of learning how estimable you are. 
Since then I have seen ever so much of you. I have seen 
you at home. I have heard your praises sung by everybody. 
You have done all sorts of nice things for 'me. I should be 
unnaturally ungrateful — a monster, if I hadn’t some affec- 
tion for you. But affection expresses everything. There’s 
nothing more. There never will be anything more, and 
there ought to be a gi’eat deal more.” 

“Well, I am contented.” 

“You are very easily satisfied. My ideal lover, my 
prince among men, would never be contented with — affec- 
tion. He would want all that there was, more, and if I 
hadn’t got it to give him, he would make me a polite bow 
and go and look for it elsewhere.” 

“ That would be because he didn’t love you as much as I 
do. If he loved you he would be satisfied to wait, on the 
chance of getting the rest.” 

“ And if he never could get the rest ? ” 

“He would be quite satisfied as long as no one else 
got it.” 

“ Ah — but if the prince came ? ” 


ELSIE'S LOVER. 


37 


“ Then he would accept his fate. That’s the risk. You 
know I told you three months ago that I would run the 
risk. It was part of our compact.” 

“ Oh, our compact! I had forgotten that we had a com- 
pact — a real serious compact. Did we fix any limit for 
it ? ” 

“ You told me,” said Hallett, “ that I might go on caring 
for you — being your friend — your lover on probation ” 

“ No, no,” she cried; ‘‘ that means too much. You were 
to ask for nothing.” 

‘‘ I have never asked for anything — I have never even 
kissed your hand. I will never do so till you yourself tell 
me that I may.” Hallett’s voice trembled with emotion. 
“ I will worship you as one might worship a star. And you 
can do nothing to prevent that. In this sense you can't help 
my being your lover.” 

“In that sense— no. You are very chivalrous. Now 
that is what I like. I admire you when you are like that. 
But at the same time I am going to say something horrid.” 

“ Oh, say it.” 

“I think, do you know, that I despise you a little for 
— for— caring so much. That is like a woman, isn’t it ? ” 

“ Yes; it’s like a woman— at least so the cynics who write 
novels tell us.” 

“Well, about our compact ? I am sure it had a limit — 
tell me.” 

“You were to give me a definite answer whenever I 
asked for one.” 

“ And you asked me for one just now — and I gave it. 
You said you could not stand things any longer. So the 
compact is ended.” 

“No. You said I might end it if I pleased; and I don’t 
choose to end it after what you said ” 

“ What ? About affection ? ” 

“Yes. I’ll never end it while you say that you care for 
me the least bit.” 

“ Affection isn’t caring. It’s what one feels for one’s pet 
horse, or one’s dog — or one’s friend.” 


38 


OUTLA W AND LA WMAKER. 


“Well,” said he stolidly, “it’s enough for me. Since it 
is that or nothing. I am your friend — till you tell me I am 
something more.” 

“ But it is ended. I have no more responsibility. I have 
told you to go. You know you ought to marry. You are 
going into Parliament. You will be a Minister. You’ll 
have to have a house and to give parties. Political people 
ought to he married. They shouldn’t go dangling after 
girls ” 

“ Not after girls — after a girl.” 

“ Well, they shouldn’t dangle after a girl. It’s undigni- 
fied — especially after such a girl as I am— no money, no con- 
nections — except Horace. I suppose, being a lord, though 
an impoverished one, counts for something — a girl who 
only keeps a Kanaka boy in the kitchen, and has to make the 
jam and clean her own boots — oh yes, I assure you, Ina and 
I have often cleaned our own boots. It’s well it’s cheap, as 
Horace says.” 

They both laughed. Just then someone struck a few 
chords on the piano. It was Lord Horace. And presently 
someone began to sing. This was not Lord Horace, who 
had a nice little baritone, but not a voice like this. And 
Lord Horace’s French — though he only aired it occasionally 
in quotations, was shaky ; while even Elsie, who had only 
had a dozen lessons from a French Sister in the convent at 
Leichardt’s Town, could tell that Mr. Dominic Trant had 
lived in France. 

Thanks to the Sister, she could understand every word. 

“ Ninon, Ninon, que fais tu de la vie ? ” 

It seemed an appeal to herself. How could such a person 
sing like that ? She asked herself the question as she got 
up from her chair and went into the parlour. Mr. Dominic 
Trant looked at her while he sang. His eyes had something 
mesmeric in them. Irish eyes occasionally have. The man 
was certainly good-looking, and he did give one a sense of 
power. The effect that he had, however, was not quite 
pleasant. It was the power of a certain sort of passion — not 


ELSIE'S LOVER. 


39 


of the highest kind. The power also of unflinching purpose 
— also not of the highest kind. This seemed to show itself 
when the man was singing. He began to interest her. He 
had only struck her before as being rather ill-bred. 

“ Where did you learn to sing French ? ” she asked, when 
he had finished. 

She had gone to the piano. 

“ I learned French among French people,” said Trant. 

“ I thought you would like that song. It was sent out to 
me the other day. Do you understand it ? Do you speak 
French ? ” 

“ No,” said she perversely. “ How do you expect an 
Australian girl to speak French ? So you have travelled a 
great deal, Mr. Trant ? ” 

“ I wish you’d let me translate it to you,” he said, not 
answering her question. “But I am quite sure that you 
understand it. I could tell that you did by your face.” 

“ Sing something else,” she replied — “ something Eng- 
lish, please.” 

This time he sang a rollicking drinking song. Lord 
Horace was delighted. “You must come over,” he said. 
“ We must practice some glees, and we’ll let you have ’em 
at Tunimba next week, Hallett.” 

Frank had to come forward to explain that his sister-in- 
law had written or was about to write to Mr. Trant, to in- 
vite him to join the party. 

“ I think it is not unlikely that my partner Blake will 
be at Barolin then,” said Mr. Trant. “I had a telegram 
from him, as I told you at the Bean -tree to-day. 

“ Tell me about Mr. Blake,” said Elsie, subsiding into a 
chair, and motioning Trant to her side in a way that irri- 
tated Hallett. She had put on her coquettish air, wdiich 
meant that she scented a victim. “Why doesn’t he ever 
come to the Luya ? ” 

“ He does come sometimes,” answered Trant. 

“ But nobody has ever seen him. I feel a curiosity about 
Mr. Blake.” 

“ What do you want to know about Blake ? ” 


40 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Ts he young ? ” 

“ No, not exactly. I suppose he is close upon forty.” 

‘‘ Is he married ? ” 

“No.” Mr. Trant laughed. “He is fair game — and 
difficult game.” 

Elsie drew herself up a little. She was quite sure now 
that Trant was very ill-bred. 

“ What do you mean ? Does he not like ladies ? You 
said he was a ladies’ man.” 

“ Oh yes, he likes ladies. He is not a marrying man 
though, Blake. He doesn’t care about anything except ” 

“ Except ” 

“ Except adventure, amusement, making money.” 

“ But people say that Barolin isn’t exactly a money-mak- 
ing place.” 

“ Oh ! They say that, do they ? Well, perhaps they are 
right. But then Blake makes money in other ways. He 
has got means. He is a luckier sort of devil than I am — 
obliged to stick at Barolin all the year round.” 

“ I say,” put in Lord Horace, “ is your partner any re- 
lation to the Blakes of Castle Coola ? Because you know 
my people know the Coola people. I’ve been fishin’ close 
there.” 

“ I don’t know,” said Mr. Trant. “ I should think it isn’t 
unlikely. Blake doesn’t like being questioned about his 
people — says he cut the whole lot when he came out here.” 

“ Got into a row, perhaps,” said Lord Horace. “ That 
would be a Blake all over. They’re a wild Irish lot — got a 
dash of Fenianism in the blood. There was a Blake who 
got drowned. He tumbled off a cliff or something. Wa- 
veryng knew him. He was a chap in a crack regiment, 
too. Well, it came out afterwards that he had been preach- 
ing to the chaps in the regiment, inciting to mutiny — like 
the Boyle O’Reilly business, you know.” 

“Yes, I know,” said Trant, stolidlj^. 

“ They said there would have been a court martial if the 
fellow hadn’t died ; so it’s lucky, perhaps, for him that he 
was drowned.” 


A GAUNTLET TO FATE. 


41 


“ Well, as lie was drowned, he can’t have anything to do 
with Blake of Barolin,” said Trant, with a laugh. 


CHAPTER V. 

A GAUNTLET TO FATE. 

Mr. Trant went away the next morning. Elsie did not 
go into the parlor to bid him good-bye, but remained in the 
verandah where she was sewing, and listened to his parting 
W'ords to Lady Horace, who invited him to repeat his visit. 
“ Ina has no tact,” murmured Elsie to herself. “ She might 
have seen that I didn’t like him.” 

* “ Where’s your sister ? ” asked Mr. Trant, and Ina’s want 

of tact again displayed itself when she promptly replied, 
“ Oh ! Elsie is in the verandah.” 

Mr. Trant came out. “ I have come to say good-bye and 
to tell you that I shall be over at Tunimba when you are 
there.” 

“ I don’t know that I am going to be there,” said Elsie 
perversely. 

Mr. Traht’s face fell. “If you are not there, I shall come 

away the next day. Do you live up here, Miss Val- 

liant ? ” he asked, after having waited in vain for Elsie to 
reply. 

“ No,” she said. “ I am only staying with my sister, 
and I am going back to Leichardt’s Town almost imme- 
diately.” 

“ Lord Horace wants me to come and sing. It isn’t much 
of a ride over from Barolin — only about fifteen miles.” 

“ Oh ! ” said Elsie. 

“ Miss Yalliant, why don’t you like me ? ” 

“ Really, Mr. Trant, you ask rather embarrassing ques- 
tions.” 

“ But you don’t. I see it in your face. You liked me a 
little after I sang last night. I knew I was having some 


42 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


efPect upon you, and I should have liked to sing on for ever. 
I wish you’d let me come and sing to you.” 

“ But I am going away. And besides, I mightn’t like you 
to have an effect upon me.” 

‘‘ That means that you are a little afraid of me. I know 
that; I can make people afraid of me.” 

‘‘ Can you really ? How ? ” 

“I don’t quite know. By looking at them. I can always 
make a woman like me, if I want to. I don’t often w^ant 
to. I don't care about them.” 

“ Perhaps that is why you make them like you. People 
can often -influence others just from the very reason that 
they don’t care about them.” 

“ I don’t think that reasoning ought to apply to yoii and 
me. Please don’t be offended. I only meant that it would 
be impossible to look at you often and remain indifferent.” 

“In that case,” said Elsie, “it would be better not to look 
at me.” 

“ Much better,” said Trant, seriously. “ I quite agree with 
you. It would not suit my way of life to care too much for 
a woman.” 

“What is your way of life ?” asked Elsie, interested in 
spite of herself. 

Trant laughed in a sort of sotto voce way that he had. 
“ You wouldn’t understand it if I were to tell you.” 

“ From the outside it wouldn’t seem to be so mysterious,” 
said Elsie, piqued— “ living at Barolin and looking after 
horses and cattle. I understand something about that.” 

The black boy came round with Mr. Trant’s horse. 

“ Well, good-bye,” he said in a lingering manner. “ I am 
very glad to have met you.” Elsie gave him her hand. The 
black boy grinned as Trant went down the log steps. 

“ I say,” he said, “ Ba’al you got him Mary belonging to 
you ? ” 

“ Ba’al,” * answered Trant. 

“That Budgery t Mary,” said the black boy, making a 


* Ba’al— No. 


t Budgery — Good. 


A GAUNTLET TO FATE. 


43 


gesture towards Elsie, who pretended not to see or hear. 
“Mine think it that fellow Hallett, plenty look after Elsie.’’ 
“ Elsie— I say,” shouted the imp. An Australian black is no 
respecter of persons. “ Mine got him dilly-bag for you.” 

The dilly-bag which had been plaited by the gins smelled 
atrociously of the camp, but it was a good pretext for escap- 
ing Traut’s farewell gaze, and for running round to the store 
for a fig of tobacco, the purchase money agreed upon for the 
dilly-bag. 

Trant rode off. Close by the door Hallett was saddling 
his horse, and Lord Horace was in conversation with a 
travelling digger, to whom he had been giving out rations. 

“ Lord, what infernal cheek ! ” Lord Horace was saying. 
“You’ll have to look sharp, Hallett, to beat that.” 

“ What is it that you are to look sharp about ? ” asked 
Elsie, coming towards him. 

“ It seems,” said Hallett, drawing his lips together, and 
relaxing them with a determined expression, “ that though 
poor Slaney w'as only buried yesterday, the Opposition can- 
didate has already declared himself.” 

“What !” said Elsie. 

“ Posters up on the gum-trees all round Goondi. This 
fellow has come from the Bean-tree this morning, and they 
had telegraphed it on there. I wonder if Trant knew any- 
thing about it.” 

“ Why, of course,” put in the digger. “ Trant is his part- 
ner, and Trant was at the Bean-tree yesterday, telegraphing 
all over the country. Good day, Miss.” He touched his 
felt wideawake as Elsie turned to him impulsively. 

“ You don’t mean that Mr. Trant is the Opposition can- 
didate ? ” she asked. 

“It’s his partner. Miss,” said the digger. “Blake, of 
Barolin. He thinks he’ll get in on the Irish vote— a flash 
sort of chap is Blake, they say. You take my advice, Mr. 
Hallett. Cut in at once, and take the wind out of his sails. * 
You’re safe enough on the Luya, but those Goondi chaps 
are all agin the squatters, and they like blather.” 

The man had taken some dirty shillings out of his pouch, 

4 




OUTLAW AND LAWM4KER. 


and was handing them to Lord Horace in payment for his 
rations. Lord Horace counted them, carefully, and thrust 
them into his pocket. 

“ Have a nip,” he said, and took the digger to the kitchen 
where Lady Horace acted as Hebe, and where his health 
was drunk, and that of her ladyship, with due formalities. 
Lord and Lady Horace were popular in the district, and a 
good many loafers found their way to the Dell. They could 
always fetch Horace by admiring his amateur bush 

ways, and he always wound up business by offering them 
a grog. 

“ Where are you going ? ” asked Elsie, of Hallett. 

“ To the Bean-tree, and perhaps to Goondi, to look after 
my political interests.” 

“Isn’t it rather odd that Mr. Blake should have got into 
the field so quickly ? He must have heard of Mr. Slaney’s 
death almost as soon as it happened,” said Elsie. 

“ I suppose liQ has been working up the district for some 
time on the sly,” answered Hallett. “ Trant must have set 
the wires going. That fellow brought me a telegram from 
the Bean-tree, which had been forwarded by Mrs. Jem, on 
the chance of its picking me up here. My supporters want 
to see me.” 

Elsie noticed that he had pinned into his coat the sprig 
of stephanotis she had thrown away the night before. 
“ Why do you keep that withered thing ? ” she said. “ If 
you come round to the verandah. I’ll give you a better 
one.” 

“ Give me the bit you have in your belt,” he said. “ It 
will bring me luck,” 

She took it out with a little hesitation. “ You’d much 
better have a fresh piece,” and she moved to the house. He 
followed her. It was only an excuse for getting out of 
eye-range. As soon as they were in the front veran- 
dah he stopped her as she was going to the stephanotis 
creeper. 

“No, give me that.” 

“ No, I want it for myself.” 


A GAUNTLET TO FATE. 


45 

She held it back, but he took it from her, and put it to 
his lips. 

‘‘I have spoilt it for you now,” he said. 

She still held out her hand. “ How ? ” 

“ Because I kissed the flowers. There 1 ” He tossed 
them away. 

She gathered another spray. That is a very nice one : 
and please don’t throw it away directly you are out of sight 
of the house.” 

He laughed. “ I’ll show you the ghost of it next time 
we meet.” 

“ That means that we sha’n’t meet for a long time.” 

“ Long enough for these to wither. I don’t know when 
I shall he able to get over again. I must canvass the dis- 
trict. We shall meet at Tunimba.” 

“Write and tell me how things are going,” she said. 

“Do you really care to hear ? Oh ! Elsie, it makes me 
glad.” 

“ Of course I care to hear. I am immensely excited. I 
wish I could go to Goondi and canvass for you. I’d make 
love to the Luya selectors. I’d abuse Mr. Blake to your 
very heart’s content. Blake of Barolin ! Has it struck you 
that the name sounds rather poetic ? ” 

“Much more so .than Hallett, of Tunimba.” 

“Well, yes ! I love a poetic name. I couldn’t marry a 
man who was called Smith. Two Smiths proposed to me, 
by the way, and they were good matches, and Mamraie and 
Ina scolded me for sending them about their business. To 
be sure, I couldn’t have married them both. Oh, what a 
bore it is that one must marry — somebody ! ” 

“ I can’t bear to hear you talk like that. Whj" must you 
marry — anybody ? ” 

“Because I’ve got no other way of gaining my living. 
Because my prettiness is going — oh yes ! Girls in Australia 
go off very soon. And do you think I haven’t heard it said 
that Elsie Valliant is going off ? Because I should hate to 
be an old maid. Mr. Hallett ” 

“Yes?” 


46 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ You know we settled last night that our compact was 
at an end.” 

“ Did we ? I think not.” 

“ Yes. I told you to go. I gave you a definite answer. 
There’s nothing more to wait for.” 

“I think there is a great deal to wait for.” 

“ I was most splendidly unselfish. I sacrificed myself. 
You don’t even thank me for my disinterestedness. You 
are to expect nothing from me, and I am to give up the 
gratification of having the member for Luya — a prospective 
minister — among my admirers.” 

“Let us make a new compact,” he said gravely. “I 
don’t ask anything from you — except absolute frank- 
ness.” 

“ Oh ! that I have always given you.” 

“ Go on giving it. Let us talk out quite openly to each 
other. Tell me that you don’t care a bit for me — if it is true. 
Tell me if your affection— you said it was affection — deepens 
or lessens. I shall never reproach you if you hurt me. I 
am willing to take my chance.” 

“ Well, what else ?” 

“ Let us go on in this way. You will know— yes, for I 
shall tell you unless you forbid me— that I love you. ’ That 
is not to be gainsaid. I don’t care how long I have to wait. 
You told me that you liked me better than anyone else who 
has ever cared for you.” 

Yes, but that isn’t saying much. I have never cared 
for anyone.” 

“Well, that is all I want— now. I think I like you to 
be like that. It fits in with my star fancy. I can worship 
you without a twinge of jealousy. And when you flirt, I 
know that it only means that you are dull and want amuU- 
ment.” 

“ That is a charitable construction to put on my evil 
doings.” ^ 

I don’t mind. It’s like the naughtiness of a child that 
doesn’t know what it’s doing. One can’t think hardly of it 
when it’s so unconscious. That’s what you are. You don’t 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 47 

realize that you can hurt people. And all that fancy about 
the hero — the Prince ” 

“Yes, the hero — the Prince. Is that like a child, too ? 
But the child’s fancies sometimes become the realities of the 
woman.” 

“This is what I meant by absolute frankness. If the 
Prince comes, tell me ; you will be able to trust me. I shall 
stand aside. I will worry you no more. Wait, and I will 
wait, too.” 

“ For my Prince ? And how long do you give me to 
wait ? ” 

“You shall fix your own time. Throw a gauntlet to 
fate.” 

The phrase struck her. “ ‘ A gauntlet to fate.’ I like 
that. I did not know that you could say such poetic things. 
Well, I will throw a gauntlet to fate. Well, here’s my 
challenge.” She flung a glove she carried into the air. As 
it came down she tried to catch it ; but it fell almost into 
his hand. 

“ That is an omen I ” he exclaimed. “ And the time ?” 

“ I challenge fate to bring my Prince along wdthin the 
year — a year from this day — what is the date ? ” 

“The twenty-ninth of March.” 

“ The twentyminth of next March, then. It shall be yes 
or no once and for all.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMING OP THE PRINCE. 

Elsie seemed a little depressed for a week after Prank 
Hallett’s visit. She felt that she had committed herself. 
To be sure she consoled herself with the reflection that she 
had the fullest right to throw him over if her Prince came. 
But suppose that no Prince came, and that she had reached 
no further pitch of romantic ardour than she had at present 
attained. 


48 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“I liked him better six months ago,” slie said to herself. 
‘‘ I was almost in love with him. I think I was quite in 
love with him one day when he seemed to like Ina better 
than he liked me. How horribly selfish, and mean, and 
small to be jealous ! And jealous of one’s own sister! ” 

Lady Horace was a little depressed too, if indeed anyone 
so equable could be depressed. Elsie accounted for it by the 
fact that Lord Horace had been aggravating. Lord Horace 
had occasionally fits of spleen and regret that he had 
ever left England — fits which were generally brought about 
by a perusal of his bank-book, and which usually ended in 
a grumble over dinner, and a reactionary burst of effusion 
to his wife. 

He was away just now, helping Frank Hallett in his 
electioneering business, and the sisters were alone. They 
were sitting out in the verandah together one evening. Ina 
was in a squatter’s chair, and Elsie sat on the edge of the 
verandah, and leaned her head against Ina’s knees. 

“ Ina,” she said suddenly, “ I wish I wasn’t such a wretch.” 

“ What makes you say that, El ? ” 

“I don’t know. Frank Halleit, h suppose. It’s perfect- 
ly horrid of me to want to keep him dangling in a string. 
Why don’t I marry him straight away ? ” 

“ Oh, why not ? ” 

“I don’t know. That’s just it. I like him. He is the 
only man I have ever been able to imagine kissing me with- 
out a shudder.” 

“Elsie !” 

“Well, it always comes to that in time. There was a 
moment when I was almost in love with him.” 

“ Almost! ” 

“ How tragically you say that ! There was a moment 
when it came over me that I had snubbed him too severely 
and that he had deserted me for you; and I believe I threw 
myself on the bed and cried out of grief and mortification.” 

“ I saw you,” said Ina, “ and I know from that moment 
that you cared for Frank Hallett, and that you ought to 
marry him.” 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 


49 


“ Did you really see me, Ina ? And you never said a 
word. That was awfully like you. You’d never let me 
suspect that you knew how abominably petty I had been. 
It was all vanity.” 

“ No, no, Elsie, don’t say that.” 

“It’s true. I’ve been like that all my life, and I’m 
ashamed of it. I hate myself sometimes. I can’t bear a 
man who has admired me to take up with anyone else — 
even my own sister. I’m a mean creature.” 

“ You know you are not. I’ve seen you take the greatest 
pains to dress up girls in your own finery, so that they 
might have as good a chance of getting partners as you. 
You have dressed me up in the same way. You have 
exulted in my little conquests. You know you have, Elsie. 
And if you were jealous for a moment it was because you 
cared. Do you think I’m not certain of that ? ” 

“ Ina, you are trembling. What’s the matter ? ” 

“I can’t bear to hear you cry yourself down.” 

“ I shouldn’t have been so horrid, Ina, if you had cared. 
It’s a mercy you didn’t, for I might have had a little trouble 
iu getting up to such a height of heroic ‘abnegation. Frank 
Hallett wouldn’t suit you, Ina, He is too solid and steady, 
and for two angels to marry is a waste of regenerating ma- 
terial. No, Ina dear, you are clearly intended for a sinner.” 

The girls laughed, both a little sadly. Elsie went on, 
“ Do you know, Ina, I think it’s a pity we weren’t taught to 
earn our own living. I think it’s a pity in a kind of way 
that we are pretty. If we had been ugly there wouldn’t 
have been so much bother about this marrying business. 
As it is, there’s been nothing else for us to do. You are 
married, and it is all right, or at any rate I hope it is all 
right for you, but here am I, twenty, too poor — and in three 
or four years’ time I shall be losing my good looks and 
there’ll be nothing for me to fall back upon. Now if we 
had been governesses, or even plain needlewomen, there 
would not have been any necessity for falling in love.” 

“Elsie!” 

“ Oh, yes, it is a very disagreeable necessity. The only 


50 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


tiling more disagreeable v/ould be to marry without it. It 
is so difficult to fall in love. I have been trying for all 
these years, and I haven’t succeeded yet.” 

“ Not even with Frank Hallett ? ” 

“ Not even with Frank Hallett, and yet he has everything 
for one to fall in love with — good looks, though I don’t care 
for those in a man, nice manners, brains — of a sort — money 
— you couldn’t wish for anything more satisfactory. And I 
think I could be happy with him.” 

“Elsie,” said Ina with an iu flexion almost of passion in 
her voice, “ don’t be a spoiled child ; caring only for a thing 
when you can’t get it — not valuing what is yours. Don’t 
let it all have been of no use: his love for you; my — my 
prayers for your happiness with him.” 

“You are right, Ina; I’ve been a spoiled child. Mammie 
has spoiled me, you have spoiled me, though I’m older than 
you, my poor Ina ; and it is I who ought to have spoiled you. 
It’s that which makes me the heartless freakish thing that I 
am. And yet — and yet there’s always the feeling that the 
Prince might come.” 

“ The Prince ? Do you mean the Prince that is coming 
this winter ? And what use will that be to you ? You 
don’t think you can marry him ?” Ina alluded to the visit 
of a certain sprig of royalty, which was expected to take 
place that year. “You don’t think you are like Beatrix 
Esmond, do you ?” 

“Yes, I do think I am very like Beatrix Esmond. As 
for my Prince — well, I should be pleased if he wore a peri- 
wig and Court ruffles and carried a sword like Colonel 
Henry Esmond, but that is out of the question, I suppose, in 
this nineteenth century Australia, and there are not many 
Colonel Esmonds in history — or out of it.” 

“ I think Ffank Hallett would do quite as fine things as 
Colonel Henry Esmond.” 

“Perhaps. But do you know, betvreen ourselves, I al- 
ways thought Colonel Esmond was ever such a little bit of 
a prig. Ina, I have told Prank Hallett that if the Prince 
does not come along within a year’s time I will marry him.” 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 


51 


“ And you are going to flirt with every,body that comes 
along, with the idea that he may turn out to be your 
Prince ? ” 

“I think I should know my Prince, without trying ex- 
periments. As for flirting, I suppose a poor girl may be 
allowed to make the most of the last opportunity she will 
ever have. I sha’n’t be able to flirt after I am married, you 
know.” 

‘‘ I think you w^ould flirt in your grave. You were flirt- 
ing the other night with that horrid Mr. Trant.” 

“ I am not sure that he is horrid. I think that under 
some circumstances he might be rather interesting.” 

“’At any rate he is horrid for having sneaked so about 
the election.” 

“ They say all is fair in love and war. The two must be 
hard at it now. I wonder that Frank Hallett hasn’t 
v/ritten.” 

“ I wonder that Horace hasn’t written,” said Ina uneasi- 
ly. “ I don’t see how you can expect Mr. Hallett to write 
when you never answered his letter.” 

“ Look here,” said Elsie, “ I don’t think Horace is quite 
fit to be trusted by himself. He’ll go flirting with the bar- 
maids— you know Horace is a horrid flirt.” 

“Let us go over to Goondi to see about getting some 
things,” said Lady Horace, “ but I don’t think that would be a 
good time. We must have a new colonial oven before the 
Waveryngs come. Oh ! Elsie, what shall I do with them ? ” 

Lady Horace took life placidly as a rule, but she was just 
now seriously discomposed by the news which had arrived 
by the last mail, that Lord and Lady Waveryng were about 
to make the tour of the world, and proposed to include the 
Australian Colonies in their programme. 

Elsie laughed. “ Never mind. Take them camping out. 
Let Horace look after them.” 

“ If only the new house were built.” 

“ Well, I expect you’ll find that Horace has anticipated 
Lord Waveryng’s remittance, in shouting champagne to 
the diggers, and there’ll be nothing left to. pay for the im- 


52 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


ported bull, let alone the new house. You’d better make up 
your mind to go to Goondi.” 

It was nearly a fortnight after Mr. Slaney’s death and 
the sticking up of the coach by Moonlight. The excitement 
over Moonlight’s escapade had paled before that of the elec- 
tion. The police had patrolled the district, and had explored 
as far as they were able the fastnesses of the Upper Luya. 
But the Upper Luya was not easily explored. Every trace 
of Moonlight seemed to have disappeared, and the police 
returned to headquarters to await the next full moon and 
be on the lookout for another outrage. 

The Timimba festivities had been postponed in view of 
the election. They had now been fixed for a date after the 
polling day, and would, it was supposed, inaugurate the en- 
trance of Frank Hallett into public life. In the meantime 
young Hallett, accompanied by his supporters, harangued 
tlie district and started a reputation for making telling 
speeches. Lord Horace also made speeches of a somewhat 
humorous description, and exposed his friend to the risk of 
being unseated on a charge of bribery, from the lavish man- 
ner in which he regaled the electors and distributed cham- 
pagne. If, however, Hallett and his friends were energetic, 
Blake of Barolin and his partner, Dominic Trant, were more 
energetic still. Elsie read the accounts of Mr. Blake’s meet- 
ings in the papers and she read his speeches, and contrasted 
them with those of her lover, not altogether to Fi^ank Hal- 
lett’s advantage. She began to think that it was perhaps as 
Avell she had not been brought into personal relations with 
the oi)posing candidate, since she might have found it more 
difficult to canvass with enthusiasm for Hallett among the 
Luya selectois. And yet she longed to see Blake. Every- 
thing she read about him appealed to her imagination. He 
was almost a stranger on the Luya, but this was perhaps 
better for him, since he had come daringly into the country, 
bold, picturesque, as it seemed irresistible ; and had taken it 
by storm. It was said that he would run Frank Hallett 
hard, though no one among the squatters doubted that 
Frank Hallett would win. Blake appealed to the masses. 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 


53 


I 

I He had the Irish gift of eloquence. He had that terrible 
Irish passion, and he had the pluck of the typical Irishman, 
I and a certain dash of poetry and pathos and romance that 
i is typical also of Ireland. There was about him, too, a 

i dash of mystery. No one knew quite what he did, where 
he came from, and where he got the money which he scat- 
tered so freely. The women adored him, and women have 
a powerful voice at election times. He was something of 
t i\iQ preux chevalier^ though he represented the Eadical 'in- 
I terest. All this Elsie gleaned from the glowing descriptions 
• in the Goondi Chronicle, which was on his side, and the 
sneering remarks of the Luya Times, which was on theirs. 
I It was very easy to read between the lines. Frank Hallett 
I was safe, steady, eminently estimable, but he was not pictur- 
j esque. The other was picturesque, and that was enough to 
\ make Elsie wildly anxious to see him. But probably he 
I was not safe, steady, nor eminently estimable. She had her 
■ wish on that very day when she had suggested to Ina that 
t they should go to Goondi. She had gone down to the cross- 
■ ing — her own favourite crossing— the place where she had 
met Hallett. Perhaps she had a lingering fancy that Hal- 
lett might ride that way and she would hear some news — 
something to enliven the deadly dullness of the life at the 
^ Humpey. Elsie was getting very tired of life at the Hum- 
\ pey, and was beginning to sigh for her Leichardt’s Town 
t parties, and the bank clerks, and young gentlemen in the 
Government offices, who out of the Parliamentary season 
made up the roll of her admirers. She had taken her book 
with her, for, unlike Ina, Elsie was fond of reading. It was 
; a book which Hallett had brought her — a book she had often 
I heard of and had never yet read. The book was a transla- 
I tion— Goethe’s Elective Affinities. 

There was a nook of the creek, set back from Lord 
■ Horace’s bridge, and out of sight of any passer-by who 
f might cross the bridge. A gnarled ti-tree jutted into the 
. stream — n little tree peninsula. It had great twisted roots 
; covered with ferns, with pale tufts of the scentless mauve 
I violet. The branches of the ti-tree bent down and dipped 


54 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


their red bottle-brush blossoms into the stream, which just 
here was dark and rather deep, and swirled in tiny eddies 
round the twigs and bowed roots. There was just room for 
one person to sit on the islet. The back the tree and the 
twisted roots made a famous arm-chair. A log spanned the 
stream above the islet, and was used by foot-passengers. 
Elsie had crossed upon it. Lower down, the creek ran shal- 
lower over a bed of stones and rock crystals, and made a 
pleasant brawling. There was an intense dreaminess in the 
air, and there was no other sound but the chirping of grass- 
hoppei’s, the occasional caw of a cockatoo, or cry of a bird in 
the scrub close by, and the footsteps of cattle or horses com- 
ing down to drink. Elsie was reading the scene in which 
Edward and Ottilie first discover their love. She put the 
book down and leaned back against the tree, her cheeks 
flushed, and a tender smile was upon her lips. She had 
often read about love, but none that she read of seemed to 
her so real as this ! Should she ever know such love ? Was 
it so rare ? Was it possible that in this manner Frank Hal- 
lett loved her ? Why then was it that she felt no returning 
throb ? Elsie wondered vaguely with some dim faint reali- 
zation of the greatest of life’s mysteries. But it was quite 
true that she had never loved. People had loved her, but 
she had never taken much account of what they felt and 
suffered. It occurred to her now that, perhaps, they had 
suffered a good deal, and that, perhaps, she might have been 
kinder. 

“I have never taken life seriously enough,” Elsie said to 
herself. “I have never taken love seriously either.” And 
then she laughed softly, as the thought flashed across her 
liow impossible it would be to take some of those bank clerks 
from the serious standpoint. Life and love had only been a 
game to Elsie. And yet in the background of her conscious- 
ness there had always been a tremendous ideal — so Elsie 
herself would have phrased it— an image which was sacred, 
an image of a prince. Only a prince. The Prince had not 
ridden through the enchanted forest where the princess 
slept. 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 


55 


There was a sound of horse’s feet now, a more definite 
tramp than that of the stray animal making for water. A 
traveller. Could it be Hallett ? Elsie would not move. 
From where she sat she could not see him as he crossed the 
bridge ; but she would see him when he mounted the bank, 
and if it were Hallett, she would give him a “ Coo-ee ” and 
surprise him. The tramp came nearer. Another odd fancy 
came into Elsie’s mind. She remembered Hallett’s rather 
contemptuous remark when she had described the ideal 

lover. “ A Jane Eyre-ish ideal.” The tramp on the hard 

ground made her think of the metallic clatter of Rochester’s 
horse rising above the murmuring of rills and whisperings 
of the wintry afternoon. There was no similitude between 
this dreamy southern afternoon and the grim frost-bound 
landscape of the book, but the fancy was in her mind. 
And there was a dog — another Gytrash — a human-looking 
shaggy creature with intelligent eyes and a huge mask-like 
head. She could see the dog as it bounded up the bank and 
turned back to bark. She knew the dog quite well. It was 
the big collie that belonged to one of the Tunimba stockmen. 
Of course the rider was Frank. She coo-eed. The horse 
was pulled back and turned on the threshold of the bridge. 
A mettlesome animal. She could hear it snort and quiver. 
Pioneer was like that. This was Pioneer’s colour. She had 
caught a glimpse of a black hind quarter. Elsie bent for- 
ward and coo-eed again, at the same time she plucked an 
verhanging bottle-brush blossom of the ti-tree and flung it 
at the rider. 

The missile did not hit its mark, but she was wholly un- 
prepared for the effect of her heedless action. There was a 
plunge, a kick, a rear forward, and the horse and rider 
darted past, the creature swerving blindly up the bank, can- 
noning against a she- oak and then dashing xmder the low 
branch of a white cedar. The rider stooped to save himself, 
but too late. A projecting boss of the tree caught his shoul- 
der and almost dragged him from his seat. He was a good 
horseman, and a man of nerve, and gripping the bridle 
checked the horse and dismounted. He staggered a little 


50 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and put his hand to his shoulder. The coat had been torn, 
and he was evidently severely bruised. The pain of the 
blow made him turn for a moment quite white. What struck 
Elsie in the midst of her consternation was that he never ut- 
tered a sound. 

She herself had given a cry of alarm and self-reproach. 
She had seen as the horse rushed past that it was not Pio- 
neer, and that its rider was not Frank Hallett. This was a 
much more spirited and highly-bred animal. The thing 
was all quivering now, its nostrils distended, and the whites 
of the eyes gleaming. The stranger patted it with his left 
liand — it was the right arm that had been hurt. “Whoa, 
old man ! Quiet, old boy ! ” he said, and turned and saw 
Elsie. 

She had left her islet and was standing — an image of 
dismay. “ Oh, I am so sorry ! I hope you are not hurt.” 

The stranger took otf his hat. He raised his right arm 
to do so, and winced with pain. 

“ Oh, you are hurt. Please let me see.’ I can’t tell you 
how sorry I am.” He came down to the little plateau 
where she stood, leading the horse, which though still 
restive followed him. 

Elsie saw the torn coat. She went close to him and 
touched his shoulder. 

“It’s nothing,” said the stranger — “only a knock. It 
doesn’t hurt at all— at least nothing to speak of.” 

“ It hurts horribly; I can see that, and it is my fault. I 
hadn’t the faintest notion— I thought you were Frank Hal- 
lett.” 

The stranger laughed. “No, I am certainly not Mr. 
Frank Hallett, I am Blake of Barolin.” 

Elsie did not laugh. It seemed to her that she had 
known from the first moment that this was Blake of 
Barolin. 

He was picturesque. Oh yes, there was no doubt of that. 
She could imagine him swaying a crowd. There was some- 
thing kingly about him. He was tall, and straight, and 
powerful. He had eyes like the eyes of an eagle, they were 


THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 


67 


so piercing and so steadfast. And there was a Napoleonic 
suggestion about his firm mouth and chin — a certain com- 
bined sweetness and dignity and resolution — a fire and force 
in the expression of his features and the carriage of his 
head. Very handsome. But a great deal more than hand- 
some. 

“ I can feel that it is swelling,” she said in deep distress, 
taking away her hand. “ It ought to be bathed and seen 
to at once, or you will be horribly bruised. I don’t know 
what to do. Shall I run up to the house and send the 
black boy for your horse ? You can’t lead it like that. It 
hurts you every time it tugs. Give me the bridle. What’s 
its name ? ” 

“ His name — oh,” he paused and laughed rather oddly 
though — “ he’s called Osman. No, you couldn’t hold him. 
He’s a young horse, and there’s something up with him to- 
day. I was off guard or he wouldn’t have shied at you like 
that. I can’t think what startled him.” 

“ It was I. I threw some of these things at him,” she 
twitched off a ti-fiower. “ I threw it at you— at you — at least 
I threw it ” — she laughed nervously, “ at Mr. Frank Hal- 
lett.” 

“ I am sorry for your sake that I am not Mr. Frank 
Hallett.” 

“You needn’t be sorry. Will he stand ? ” Blake had 
strapped his horse round a sapling. 

“Yes, I’ll just wait a minute or two, if you don’t mind, 
till the twinge has gone off. Then I’ll get on to Barolin.” 

“Oh, won’t you come up to the house and have it seen 
to? My sister will be pleased.” 

“ Your sister ? ” 

“Lady Horace Gage. I am Miss Valliant, I am staying 
with her.” 

“Yes, I heard that.” Mr. Blake made her a bow. “I 
beg your pardon for having frightened you.” 

“ Oh, it isn’t— I mean it was all my fault. Please come 
up to the Humpey ! ” 

“ I don’t think I ought to do that. You see Lord Horace 


58 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and I have been doing nothing hut hurl abuse at each 
other for the last week or so, and I’m on a canvassing ex- 
X3edition to the Upper Luya.” 

“ Do you think you are going to beat Frank Hallett ? ” 
asked Elsie. 

“I hope so. Yes, I think I shall beat him. If I do I 
suppose you will hate me ? ” 

“ I don’t know why you should say that. Mr. Hallett is 
not my brother or — or any other relation.” 

“ But you wish him to get in ? ” 

“Yes — I wish him to get in.” 

“ Because he is a friend, or because you are in sympathy 
with his politics ? ” 

“ Oh, his politics ! I don’t know anything about poli- 
tics. I don’t care in the least whether the squatters get 
their Land Bill, or whether the agriculturists get things 
their way. It doesn’t matter.” 

“ Don’t you think it matters that the squatters monopo- 
lize a great deal of land to which they have no right, and 
of which poor people ought to have a share ? ’’ 

“ There is plenty of room in Australia,” said Elsie. 

“Yes, there is plenty of room, and all the more reason 
for legislators to see that justice is done. I mean to go 
against your Squatters’ Land Bill, Miss Valliant. I mean 
to fight Mr. Hallett on all his points tooth and* nail. I am 
fighting him now. We are enemies in open field, and you 
and yours are on his side of the battle.” 

“Oh, we are sisters of mercy — Ina and I,” said Elsie, 
laughing. “ In common charity one may bind up one’s 
enemy’s wounds.” 

“ I think my wounds will keep till I get to Barolin,” he 
said, laughing, too. “ They are not very serious : I will not 
put your and Lady Horace’s loyalty to so severe a test. I 
am glad you call yourself a sister of mercy, and that you 
take up so disinterested a position — perhaps I ought rather to 
say so womanlike a position.” 

“ Why womanlike ? ” 

“ You confess that it is for the sake of friendship, not 


I THE COMING OF THE PRINCE. 59 

from political conviction that you are on Mr. Hallett's 
side.” 

Elsie laughed. He went on, “Well, at any rate, though 
; naturally Mr. Hallett has your best wishes, I may hope that 
you will not owe me any serious grudge if I am returned.” 
He looked down at Elsie with a half smile. Where was all 
her self-confidence gone ? 

To anyone else she would have made a jesting reply into 
which she would certainly have infused a spice of coquetry. 
Their eyes met. Hers dropped and she flushed slightly. 
He thought her wouderingly pretty. 

“No,” she said weakly. 

“Thank you. I’m very glad of that. I’m afraid we 
shall not have the chance of seeing much of you in the 
Luya, hut if I do get in, we shall meet at the Leichardt’s 
Town balls, perhaps.” 

“ Don’t you mean ever to come to the Luya ? Do you 
always leave everything to Mr. Trant ? ” 

“ Oh, no. I do come to the Luya occasionally — I have 
j. been up here several times.” 

! “We haven’t heard of you coming.’^ 
j “ No, I suppose you haven’t heard of my coming. But 
' then you have such big excitements on the Luya that it is 
I not surprising.” 
j “ You mean Moonlight ? ” 

I “Ah ! He seems to be an excitement. What do you 
I- think of Moonlight, Miss Valliant ? ” 

I “I admire him. I would give anything to have been in 
' the coach when he stuck it up.” 

“ Shouldn’t you have been afraid ? ” 

■ “No. Why? I have no money to be robbed of— not 
! even a watch. And Moonlight only robs misers and the 
j gold escort. I suppose he thinks he has a right to the 

! spoils of the earth. And,” she added, “ that’s your principle, 
Mr. Blake.” 

I , “ It’s the principle of the oppressed. And so you sym- 

i ■ pathize with Moonlight ? ” 

; “I should like to see him,” said Elsie dreamily. “ Do 


60 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


you know that I told Mr. Hallett, the day after the robbery, 
that I wished Moonlight would carry me off to his lair.” 

“You wished to be carried to Moonlight’s lair. Well, 
more unlikely things have happened. I can quite imagine 
that if Moonlight, as they call him, heard you say that, he 
might be inclined to act upon your suggestion. What did 
Mr. Hallett say ? ” 

“ I should have to be ransomed, you know — some of the 
squatters here would try and buy me back.” 

“ I haven’t the least doubt of that. The district would 
rise in search of you, and they would probably be more suc- 
cessful than Captain Macpherson and his men seem to have 
been. And— well so much the worse for Moonlight. Good- 
bye, Miss Valliant.” 

“ You are going ? ” 

“Yes.” He unbuckled his horse’s bridle. “It will be 
late before I get to Barolin, especially if I stop at the cedar- 
cutters’ on the way.” 

“ Ah, we have been beforehand with you. They have 
promised us their vote.” 

“ So you have been canvassing for Mr. Hallett ? He is 
very fortunate. I wish I had been the lucky candidate who 
secured your partisanship.” He raised his hat again. Elsie 
held out her hand. 

“ Is your shoulder very painful ? ” 

“A little ; but it is not worth thinking about. I am 
glad of the accident since it has given me the opportunity 
of making your acquaintance. I have wished for a long 
time to meet you.” 

“ Why ? ” 

“ I will tell you some time, when I know you better. It 
is rather a long story, and it might be disagreeable to you 
to hear it.” 

“I don’t understand.” She looked at him wonder- 
ingly. 

“No ? never mind. It will keep. You are leaving your 
book behind you.” He picked the volume up and handed 
it to her, glancing at the title as he did so. 


“/ FOLLOW MY STAR:^ 01 

“The Elective A.ffinities! Do you believe in that 
theory ? ” 

“No. I can’t tell. I have had so little experience ” 

“ I should have thought that you had had a considerable 
experience.” 

“ You mean ’’—she stopped and blushed. 

“Well,” he said, “ I mean that you must have tested some 
of the laws of human chemistry, and are at least in a position 
to judge what kind of qualities you yourself are most likely 
to attract.” 

“ Oh, no,” she exclaimed with child-like candour which 
amused him. “I can’t judge in the least. They are all so 
unlike.” 

“ They must at any rate have one common quality.” 

“ That of being commonplace,” she said. 

He laughed and slipped the bridle over his left arm. 
“Come, Osman. Good-bye, l^iss Valliant.” 


CHAPTER VH. 

“l FOLLOW MY STAR.” 

When Elsie Valliant set her heart upon doing any par- 
ticular thing, she usually had her way. She had set her 
heart upon going to Goondi during the election week, and 
so she persuaded Lady Horace to take her. They rode to 
the Bean tree Crossing, as the Telegraph Station and Ger- 
man Settlement near them was called, and there picked up 
the coach to Goondi. It was only a one day’s expedition, 
after all. Two coaches passed in the day, one in the morn- 
ing and one at night. 

Lady Horace was not very hard to persuade. Perhaps 
she was more excited about the chances of Hallett’s return 
than she chose to show. Perhaps she was a little anxious 
about her husband, of whom they heard vaguely as “ shout- 
ing drinks,” to the electors, driving four-in-hand about the 


62 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


country, playing practical jokesupon his opponents, certainly 
flirting with electors’ pretty daughters, and otherwise having 
what he described as “ a good, time.” 

Ina was so quiet that no one ever quite knew w^hat she 
felt or thought, but Elsie had a shrewd suspicion that she 
was not perfectly satisfied with her handsome and excitable 
young husband, and Elsie had heard Lord Horace speak 
more crossly to Ina than befitted the short time they had 
been married. To be sure he had apologised very penitently 
afterwards, and had declared to Elsie that Ina was an angel, 
which she told him had always been perfectly well known 
in the family. Lord Horace had added that perhaps it might 
be better for him if she were not quite such an angel, as she 
would keep him in stricter order, and there Elsie had agreed. 
Anyhow, Ina seemed to think that he needed a little keeping 
in order now, and so she said that as she wanted to do some 
shopping, and as Goondi was the nearest place where she 
could buy a yard of silk or a reel of cotton, she and Elsie 
would go. 

It was a queer straggling bush town, with a large and 
floating population, mostly of miners. The claims, with 
their heaps of stone and scaffolding of machinery, gave it a 
different appearance from the ordinary township. All day 
and night the machinery was at work, and all day and all 
night one could hear the dull thud of the blasting. There 
was only one street in the township, but it weiit up and 
down hill for nearly two miles. Goondi was all hills and 
little wooden houses and heaps of stone and mullock, which 
is the refuse from the crushing. There was only one hotel 
— a big two-storied wooden house, with verandah and balcony 
all round, commonly known as Ruffey’s. Here the rival 
candidates were staying. Hallett harangued his mob from 
the nortli balcony, and Blake addressed his from the one on 
the south. Lord Horace was waiting outside the hotel to 
receive them when the coach drove up. His refined, Greek- 
featured face looked paler than usual from fatigue and late 
hours. He was very much excited, and could talk of noth- 
ing but the election. He begau at once to tell Ina of how he 


“/ FOLLOW MY STAFF 


63 


had been making himself agreeable to the wives of the dig- 
gers and settlers, and of the bush balls, at which he had been 
assisting ; of how the men had openly derided him for being 
a Lord, and of how he had entertained and impressed the 
ladies by his answers to their questions concerning aristo- 
cratic life in England. “Lord! I have crammed them,” 
he said confidentially, “ but I think we are doin’ it, though 
it’ll be a close shave. Puts me in mind of Waveryng’s elec- 
tion — I fetched ’em last night, I can tell you, by describin’ 
all that, and singing ’em the war-cry — I composed it myself 
—a sort of hash of the Marseillaise, the Star-spangled Ban- 
ner, and Tommy Dodd. The worst of it is that fellow Trant 
has got a voice that takes the wind out of our sails, and then 
he appeals to their feelin’s. Blest if he didn’t give 'em ‘ The 
Wearing of the Green ’ last night — struck up when Blake 
began about the Irish wrongs — he’s a Fenian is that fellow 
Blake, but he is not a bad sort for all that — and I really felt 
inclined to blubber, it was so pathetic.” 

Hallett came towards them. They were in the entrance 
hall, and he was coming down the stairs. From the other 
side of the hotel floated sounds of the mob he had been ad- 
dressing. He too looked excited, and a little nervous. He 
went straight to Elsie, just shaking hands with Lady Horace 
as he passed. 

“ You see I said I would come,” she said. 

“ I’m afraid you’ve come to see me beaten,” he answered 
in a low voice. “ I mustn’t confess to defeat now, but I feel 
pretty sure of it.” 

“ But he is a stranger,” said Elsie. “ What has he done ? 
How has he got over the district ? ” 

“The man has power,” said Hallett bluntly, “and I 
haven’t.” 

“Yes, he has power,” said Elsie dreamily; “I can see 
that.” 

“You’ve seen him then?” said Hallett surprised. He 
had not heard of that meeting by the creek. Elsie had not 
even told her sister. “ Take care,” he added in a low voice, 
“there he is.” Aloud he said, “ I think we had better go up 


64 : 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


to your sitting-room, Lady Horace. This isn’t exactly the 
place for ladies.” 

A number of men had come in from the outside entrance. 
They were talking noisily. Trant’s voice could be heard 
above the others. He stopped short at the sight of the ladies 
and lifted his hat to Lady Horace, who gave him rather a 
cool nod. All the men seemed to cluster naturally round 
the central figure, Blake himself, taller than the others, more 
erect, and attogether better-bred looking. He too raised his 
hat at the sight of Elsie, but with his left hand. She made 
a slight movement in his direction. It was more a gesture 
than a movement, but he interpreted it as she had intended, 
and came to speak to her. 

“ I hope your arm is all right now,” she said. “ No, I see 
it isn’t. Why do you wear a sling ? ” 

“The shoulder was dislocated,” he said in an eager con- 
fused manner, “ and Abates pulled all the way to Barolin, 
and made a nasty business out of what would have been 
nothing if I had kept quiet. ” 

“ Abates ! ” she exclaimed. “ You called him Os- 
man.” 

“ Abates,” said Hallett, “ is the name of Moonlight’s fa- 
mous horse.” 

“I suppose I was thinking of that. Someone has just 
been Speaking of Moonhght,” replied Mr. Blake quietly. 
But Elsie had fancied when she spoke that his face had 
changed, and that he had grown paler. Was it the sight of 
her which had agitated him ? The girl’s heart thrilled with 
an odd momentary sense of triumph. 

“The excitement of an election is apt to confuse one’s 
faculties,” Blake went on. “You have come into the thick 
of the fight. Miss Valliant. But I think on the whole” — he 
turned to Hallett — “that the warfare is conducted with as 
little rancour as could be expected, considering the sort of 
mob we have to deal with.” 

“ Your mob,” said Hallett, laughing. “ Mine is decorous, 
compared with your wild Irishmen ” 

“ My wild Irishmen? They are the best-natured and the 


“/ FOLLOW MY star:' C5 

best-behaved fellows in the world,” Blake insisted, good- 
humouredly. “ They can sing too, I can tell you.” 

“Yes— they can sing,” Hallett admitted— “ and they can 
cheer in their queer shrill sort of way — I can’t always make 
out whether they are delighted or disappointed. It some- 
times sounds to me like a death- wail, and then, by Jove, I 
am told it is a shout of triumph.” 

“You’ll hear it to-morrow,” Blake said carelessly, “and 
then you will know that it isn’t a death- wail — and don’t you 
forget it.” 

“I am very curious about it — I want to hear it,” Elsie 
said in an abstracted sort of way, as if she were talking to 
herself. 

“ I don’t,” Hallett declared with a laugh. “ Well, Blake, 
we shall know it all to-morrow. ‘ God show the right,’ as 
the old proclamations of battle used to say.” 

“ God show the right,” repeated Blake abstractedly. 
“That’s what they say in Ireland. Come what will, Hal- 
lett,” said Blake, “ you are a good fellow, and a gallant op- 
ponent.” Then the little group dispersed. 

Sounds echoed all through the wooden building, and 
Butfey’s was by no means a peaceful haven on this election 
eve. From the bar down below there came noise of revelry, 
hoarse callings for drink, snatches of song, rough laughter, 
and occasionally an oath. In the balcony, on which Lady 
Horace’s sitting-room opened, all this could be distinctly 
heard. It was an odd place for a young lady to choose, but 
for the greater part of the evening Elsie Valliant sat there 
and listened to the din and watched the street below. There 
was a moon getting near its full, and the long straggling 
roadway, with its wooden houses, its odd-looking groups of 
passers-by — rough bushmen, diggers, Chinamen, blacks — 
presented a rather amusing spectacle. But Elsie did not 
seem so deeply interested in the street scene as in a low mo- 
notonous hubbub, with one voice distinguishable through 
the babel, which came to her from the other side of the 
building, and which she guessed to be that of Blake holding 
a meeting. There were interruptions every now and then. 


66 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Sometimes his voice rose so clearly that she could almost 
make out the words. Sometimes another voice interposed, 
sometimes there were hoots from below, sometimes cheers ; 
but through it all the one voice declaimed with a force and 
passion that Elsie felt to be real oratory. She would have 
given the world to hear what he was saying. She did in- 
deed crane her head over the balcony, but after a minute 
drew it back, afraid lest in the moonlight someone should 
see and recognize her. By-and-by it ended. The street be- 
came quieter, but the noise in the hotel increased. Hallett 
came up and joined her in the balcony. 

“ Have you been listening to Mr. Blake ? ” she asked. 

“ No,” he replied ; “ I have been orating on my own ac- 
count. Why do you stay out here ? It isn’t fit for you, 
with all that noise going on in the bar. ” 

“ I will go to bed,” she said listlessly. “ I am tired.” 

“Stay a moment. Come round here; it is quieter. I 
told you I’d show you the ghost of your fiower the next 
time we met. Here it is.” 

He opened his pocket book and showed her the stephano- 
tis spray crushed between its leaves. “ I have worn it,” he 
said, “as one of the old knights you are so fond of might 
have worn his lady’s token when he went to battle. It has 
been with me all through my battle.” 

“ Give it to me,” she said, in a strained sort of voice. He 
did so. Before he could guess her intention, she had crum- 
pled it into a shapeless lump, and had thrown it into the 
street. 

“Why did you do that ?” he exclaimed, deeply hurt. 

“Because it’s worth nothing. It has not brought you 
luck. It never will bring you any good luck.” 

“ Have you made up your mind, then, that I am to fail ? ” 
he said in a pained voice. 

“ Yes, I feel it, I know it. He has victory in his face. 
That man will succeed wherever he goes, and in whatever 
he chooses to do.” 

“ In whatever he chooses to do ! ” Hallett repeated. 
“ Don’t say that. I cannot bear you to say it,” 


“/ FOLLOW MY star:' 67 

“ Why ? I only say what I feel. I never knew any 
man who gave me that impression in the same way.” 

‘‘ Do you know why I cannot bear you to say it ? It is 
because he may choose to influence you.” 

“ Well ! ” said Elsie with an odd smile. “ That might not 
be an unpleasant sensation. Don’t be angry,” she added 
hurriedly, seeing the look of pain that came into his face. 
“ I didn't mean to vex you. Nothing in the world is more 
unlikely to happen.” 

“As that he should influence you, or that he should 
choose to do so ? ” 

“Both, or either — as you please. Good-night, Mr. Hal- 
lett. We have had a thirty miles’ journey to-day, and Ina 
has gone to bed.” 

They went in. He gave her a candle, and bade her 
good-night. 

“Do you know where your room is ?” he asked. 

“ Yes, it is a good way along the passage — horribly far 
from Ina’s. I shall lock my door.” 

“ Don’t be frightened if you hear noises. They are not 
likely to shut up the hotel very early. I think it was a 
mistake your coming here just at this time.” 

“I don’t think so at all. I wouldn’t miss it for the 
world. But I should like to know who has the room next 
to mine. Where are you ? ” 

“ On the ground floor. I am very sorry. I will find out 
who is next you, if you like.” He went out. After a 
minute or two he came back. 

“ Mr. Dominic Trant has the room next yours.” 

“I don’t think I like Mr. Dominic Trant,” said Elsie. 
“He has such odd eyes. I think he believes he can mes- 
merize people. All the time we were standing in the hall 
downstairs, he was looking at me. Tell me — is he going to 
Tunimba ? ” 

“ I suppose so. Edith says it will be the greatest mistake 
to get up a coolness on account of the election. She has 
asked Mr. Blake to come too.” 

“ I suppose she is right.” 


68 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“Yes, Edith has a good deal of tact in these matters, but 
it would he odd if he should come as the member for- Luya.” 

“Very odd,” said Elsie. She took her candle and left 
him. He went down the stairs, and she to her room. 

It was, as she had said, a long way down the passage. 
It was in a wing that had been added to the main building, 
and there was a bend in the corridor that made it seem more 
isolated still. She was a little dismayed when she saw that 
Mr. Dominic Trant was fumbling in his keyhole. 

“ They’ve locked my door,” he said. “ It’s a queer sort of 
shop, isn’t it. Miss Valliant ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Elsie shortly. “ Good-night.” 

“You are next me. These wooden partitions are con- 
foundedly thin. Don’t be frightened if you hear me com- 
ing in and going out. Blake and I are going to amuse 
ourselves.” 

“ I hope you will do so. Would you let me pass, please ? ” 

Trant drew back. “ I intend to make you like me, Miss 
Valliant. You don’t now, but I intend that you shall. Do 
you know that I’m coming to Tunimba ? ” 

“ Yes, I know that. Please bring some songs with you.” 

“Blake is coming, too. He will be the member for 
Luya, and Mr. Hallett’s nose will be out of joint. Look 
here. Miss Valliant, I have got something to say to you.” 

“ I don’t think I want to hear it now, Mr. Trant.” 

“ I shall not be a minute telling you. I know you are a 
flirt. Everyone says so. You’ll be wanting to flirt with 
Blake. Take my advice, and don’t. He is a nasty customer, 
is Blake. There is nothing he enjoys so much as compro- 
mising a woman. He has got no more heart than this 
key.” 

“ I don’ t see what that matters to me, Mr. Trant— or to 
you.” 

“ It does matter to me. I know Blake’s ways. I don’t 
want to see you let in. I think a great deal of you — a great 
deal more than you know.” 

“I am very much obliged to you.” She turned the 
handle of her door, and went into her room, leaving him 


I FOLLOW MY star: 


69 


outside. Then she tried the door after her, but to her dis- 
may she discovered that there was no key, and that the bolt 
was frail and unreliable. She tried to reason herself out of 
her terror of Trant. 

“ He has probably been drinking,” she said to herself, 
“ though he looked cool enough.” 

She sat down without undressing. It seemed to her that 
there were all kinds of disquieting sounds about. The roar 
of the machinery, which she could not at first understand, 
was uncanny, and so were the occasional detonations from 
the blasting works. By and by the noise in the bar sub- 
sided a little. The hotel itself was fairly quiet. It was now 
about midnight. She heard steps along the corridor, and 
they set her trembling again. The steps paused at Trant’s 
door. Some one went in. 

Yes, the partitions were horribly thin. She could hear 
the voice distinctly. It was the voice of Blake, and yet she 
was conscious that he was speaking almost in a whisper. 

“ Are you ready ? ” 

Trant murmured something. She could not distinguish 
the words. 

Blake went on, still in the same low clear voice, and wfith 
an accent of contempt. “ Naturally you don’t understand. 
One must follow one’s star.” 

Again a murmur from Trant, of which she only distin- 
guished the words “ eight thousand,” 

A laugh— an odd mocking laugh. “ The member for 
Luya. Droll! There’s a certain humour in the situation.” 
And then a sentence in French. She could not make it out. 
A sound as of some one moving about and opening and 
shutting things followed. Presently one went out both 
she imagined at first, for there was a complete silence. 
Elsie could bear it no longer. She must go and find Ina, 
and ask her to stay with her. She did not know v^hat had 
frightened her. And why should she be frightened either 
of Trant or of Blake ? But she was frightened for all that. 
Her nerves were like stretched wires. To remain there till 
morning seemed an impossibility. She took up her candle 


70 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and opened her door. The passage was all dark. She 
would go to Lady Horace’s room. A window in the passage 
was open and a gust blew out the candle. She gave a faint 
cry. At that moment the door of Trant’s room opened and 
a man came out — a man in riding dress, with a black sort of 
poncho covering his coat. He drew back as he saw her and 
heard her exclamation. He had no candle, but at that mo- 
ment the moon came out from under a cloud and shone 
through the uncurtained window. She saw that it was 
Blake. 

He came towards her. “ Miss Valliant, I’m afraid I 
frightened you. I did not know that you were so near. ” 

“ I am in the next room. I heard you.” 

“ You heard me ! ” His eyes were full upon her. How 
bright they looked ! They had an odd intent expression. 
There was something wild in their gaze. “ Then you 
must have preternaturally keen ears, for I spoke in a whis- 
per. ” 

“ I heard you say that one must follow one’s star. What 
is your star ? Where is it taking you ? ” 

He continued looking at her in that strange rapt man- 
ner. 

“ Where it has always led me— to danger and to mis- 
fortune. ” 

“To misfortune!” she repeated. “Oh, no, no. Why 
do you say that ? ” 

“ Because fate has been against me, and because I’m in a 
reckless mood to-night. Does the full moon affect you, 
Miss Valliant ? Does it make you feel that you could do any 
sort of dare-devil thing ? I’ve got the music of Berlioz’s 
‘ Faust ’ in my head. Do you know it ? ” 

“ No. How should I know it ? ” 

“ True. They haven’t performed it in Australia, I fancy. 
Well, if you ever hear it, note the description of Faust’s 
wild ride Avith Mephistopheles. I think Mephistopheles is 
always abroad when the moon is at the full. That’s how -I 
feel.” 

“ You are not going to ride to-night ? ” 


“/ FOLLOW MY STARy 71 

“Yes. I am going’ for a gallop. That’s my way of 
working off my excitement.” 

“ Yon don’t seem as if you were excited. You are quite 
pale and cold and resolute. It is only your eyes that have 
a wild look.” 

“ They look wild, do they ? They ought not to look wild 
when they are fixed on you.” They were fixed on her now 
searchingly. “Go back to bed, Miss Valliant. Nothing 
will disturb you. You may sleep as soundly and peacefully 
as a child.” 

“ I am frightened. I was going to find my sister’s room,” 
she said falteringly. “ I don’t like being here alone— so far 
from everyone.” 

“ You should not be frightened. No one will hurt you. 
What frightens you ? ” he said. 

“I don’t know. It’s very stupid, I suppose. Things 
seem odd and eerie — it’s so odd my standing here talking to 
you at this hour.” 

“There’s nothing so odd in that. Go back to bed. 
Don’t wake up your sister. I’m sorry that I told you 
about my wild mood. The truth is that I come of a hot- 
headed race. I love adventure — violent exercise — all sorts 
of things that stir one’s blood, and make life worth living. 

I love solitude, and for weeks I have been living in a crowd 
and putting a curb on myself ” 

“ But there is Mr. Trant. You will not be alone.” 

“ Oh, Trant understands me, and lets me have my fling. 
To-morrow I shall be as meek as a lamb, and you won’t 
recognize the spurred and booted desperado of to-night.” 
He laughed as he spoke and made a movement with his 
arms which caused his cloak to fall back. In the moon- 
light Elsie saw the gleam of something at his waist, and 
realized that it was the shining handle of a pistol. 

“You look like a desperado. Why do you carry that 
pistol.” 

“Oh, that— I had forgotten. Moonlight maybe about, 
you know. It is as well to be armed when one scours the 
country at full moon.” 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


n 


A clock struck twelve. He li*eld out his hand. “ Ho as 
I tell you. Sleep well, and look upon this midnight meet- 
ing as a dream.” 

His touch gave her a curious sensation. “ Your hand 
is quite cold,” she said. “ What is the matter ? ” 

“ Nothing is the matter.” 

- “ It is as cold as death,” she repeated. 

“ Heath — what do you know of death ? Go to bed, go 
back and sleep. Hream happy dreams. Good-night.” 

He opened her door for her, and waited till she had 
gone through and had closed it behind her. She heard his 
steps going softly down the corridor. Then she shot the 
holt and quietly undressed. It was very strange, but she 
had no thought of disobeying him, no thought now of go- 
ing to Lady Horace. She felt soothed and satisfied, and yet 
through all there was a certain thrill of excitement. His 
eyes with their bright intent look seemed to be gazing at 
her in the darkness. There was something compelling in 
the look. It haunted her and gave her a strange dreamy 
feeling. She did not sleep for a long time. She pictured 
him scouring the plains on his black horse Osman, and 
working otf the fever of his blood, the hilt of his pistol 
gleaming as his cloak flew back in the wind. In her 
fancy he seemed like some mediaeval knight. What a con- 
trast to the dull prosaic bushmen round her, with their 
eternal talk about cattle and horses, their petty interests 
and low aims ! This man spoke of his star. How strange 
that he should have used that phrase ! She thought of her 
talk with Hallett, and of how she had said that the man she 
loved must have a purpose and a destiny, and a star. 


THE MEMBER FOR LUYA. 


73 


CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MEMBER FOR LUYA. 

It was early morning before Elsie fell asleep. She 
slept late. Ina knocked at her door, and found it bolted 
and went away again. Later, when Elsie was dressed and 
went into the sitting-room, she found the whole party 
assembled there. Lord Horace was talking excitedly. 
“Eight thousand pounds worth of gold. By jove, it’s a 
haul ! ” he was saying. 

Eight thousand pounds ! The words brought a thrill to 
Elsie. “What are you talking about?” she exclaimed. 
“ What does it mean ? ” 

“ It means the most daring robbery that ever was com- 
mitted. The gold escort robbed eight miles from Goondi at 
three o’clock this morning— six armed policemen to five 
bushrangers,” said Hallett. 

“And the devil, as they say, in the shape of a black 
horse,” put in Lord Horace. “ I should like to have the 
chance of a shot at Abates. What fools they were not to 
aim at the horse. ’Pon my soul, it’s the most extror’nary 
thing. Etheridge, the sergeant, swears the men are all in 
armour.” 

“ Copying the Kellys,” said Lady Horace. 

“ Copying the mediaeval duffers rather. It’s a better sort 
of armour than the Kellys. That must be chain armour of 
the best manufacture, or they couldn’t ride the distances 
in the time and do the things they do — unless Moonlight 
has the power of disappearing into the bowels of the earth 
whenever he sees fit. It beats me, and I can’t help having a 
sneaking regard for such a plucky fellow. I hope Macpher- 
son won’t nab him.” Lord Horace went on walking fiercely 
up and down the inn parlour. 

Elsie sat silent. She, too, was intensely excited. 

“ The worst of it is that no one cares two straws about 
the poling to-day,” said Hallett. “All Goondi is mad over 
the robbery, I am afraid it will affect the votes.” 


74 


OUTLA\N AND LAWMAKER. 


‘‘ No, it wou’t,” said Lord Horace. “ I shall drag the 
voters in — your voters at least.” 

Elsie ate her breakfast listlessly. Hallett looked at her 
with anxious eyes. 

“ You look as if you hadn’t slept. And you don’t seem 
so tremendously interested in Moonlight as I thought you 
would be.” 

“ Yes,” she answered, “ I am — tremendously interested. 
Was anybody hurt ? ” 

“ Moonlight has never yet shed blood,” said Hallett ; 
“ and as for the bushrangers, Etheridge says that the bullets 
glanced off them. He let the police fire. They weren’t pre- 
pared, and before they had time to reload. Moonlight and 
his men had closed in on them, and the whole thing was 
up. They were found gagged and tied to gum-trees by a 
selector who started early this morning to vote. The gold 
had gone, and there wasn’t a trace of the bushrangers to be 
seen.’’ 

Outside the hotel the mob had become uproarious. 

“ It’s Blake holding forth. You’ll hear ‘ The Wearing of 
the Green ’ pi^esently. Come along, Horace. Let us see what 
they are up to,” said Hallett. He was very pale. Elsie went 
out with Ina into the balcony. It was the same voice that 
she had listened to the evening before. 

“Yes — it’s Blake haranguing his wild Irishmen,” Hallett 
said. 

Elsie could hear the voice, but she could not see the man. 
She could tell by the murmurs of the crowd that it was a 
large crowd and deeply interested. The sensation was curi- 
ous and intense. The hush was something almost painful 
during each sentence of the speaker, and then the wild shriek 
of applause seemed as if it broke irrepressible out of the very 
heart of the listeners. 

“ Blake won’t let his fellows forget all about the election, 
even in the excitement about Moonlight and the robbery,” 
Hallett quietly observed. “ He’s a better tactician than we 
are.” This was the very thought that had been passing 
through Elsie’s somewhat distracted mind. 


THE MEMBER FOR LUYA. 


75 


She could hardly follow the course of the appeal that 
Blake was making to his admirers. It was something about 
the future of Ireland and the future, too, of Australia. But 
she did not want to follow the political appeal. She was 
content to hear the voice — melodious, strong, thrilling, 
sweet — with sudden spontaneous notes of humour in it, 
which brought out roars of laughter from the delighted 
listeners. 

Hallett’s turn came to address his electors, and Elsie was 
near, and could follow his words, but they thrilled her to no 
enthusiasm. She could not understand why Ina was white 
and cold with anxiety. What did it matter? What did 
anything matter ? It was the other voice that rang in 
Elsie’s ears. But how could she, in loyalty, hope that Blake 
might be victorious ? Lady Horace made no attempt to do 
her shopping that day, and the colonial oven was not bought 
— on this occasion at any rate. The excitement in Goondi 
was far too intense for it to be safe for ladies to venture into 
the business street, the mob too dense and turbulent. Inter- 
est was divided between the result of the poll and the bush- 
ranging outrage. There was almost a suspension of all 
other business. Police patrolled the street. The township 
authorities were waiting for Government orders. Court- 
house and telegraph station were surrounded by a swaying 
crowd waiting the arrival of “progress telegrams.” Captain 
Macpherson, the superintendent of police, had started out 
with all the available force. Native trackers were got to- 
gether, and further bands were being summoned from the 
neighbouring township. At evening, however, nothing had 
been heard of Moonlight. He might, as Lord Horace had 
said, have disappeared into the bowels of the earth, for all 
the trace he had left. 

Mr. Blake and his supporters were very much in evi- 
dence that day. Elsie saw him in the distance, cool, calm, 
apparently self-confident. She saw him riding down the 
street of the township on a horse which was not Osman, but 
which was, nevertheless, a very splendid animal— a mettle- 
some chestnut, which apparently he had ridden all through 
6 


76 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


the election, for she heard Hallett and Lord Horace discus- 
sing it and extolling the Barolin breed. She looked at the 
horse to see if it showed any traces of a wild ride, but it was 
as fresh, and spirited, and sleek as though it had not left the 
stable for days. Elsie wondered whether he had really taken 
that gallop, and if so whether it had, as he had said, worked 
off the excitement. He certainly seemed now absolutely col- 
lected, but perhaps his composure was a sign of excitement 
at white heat. She observed that during the early part of 
the day Trant was not with his partner, and that when he 
did show himself he seemed by far the most wearied and 
discomposed of the two. 

Elsie watched the fortunes of the day from her balcony. 
She saw Hallett go into the court-house up the street, and 
then Blake came up to the court-house door and got off his 
horse and went in too, accompanied by a few friends, and she 
assumed that the counting of the votes was going on. She 
went in and out uneasily from and back to the balcony. 
Some hours after she saw a rush made towards the court- 
house by an excited crowd. Presently she heard a wild out- 
cry, .at first she hardly knew whether of grief or joy, and 
then broke out the song of “God save Ireland,” mingled 
with hurrahs for Blake, and a crowd rushed up waving ban- 
ners and sticks some with green ribbons tied to them, and 
she knew that the victory was won. The crowd halted un- 
der the hotel outside, and Elsie assumed that Blake was 
there, and that he would have to make another speech. So 
he did. His voice rang out with all the proud vigour of 
victory — and she heard him tell of the regeneration of Ire- 
land, and the manifest destiny of Australia. 

Lord Horace had worked manfully. It certainly was 
not his fault that Frank Hallett was not elected. But when 
the poll was declared, just before the crowd returned to the 
hotel, it was known that Blake had come in the victor by a 
majority of twenty votes. 

Again Elsie and Blake met in the corridor. She was 
^coming from her room, he was going towards his. She 
went straight to him and held out her hand. 


THE MEMBER FOR LUYA. 


77 


“ I congratulate you,” she said simply. 

“ Thank you,” he answered, and held her hand for sever- 
al moments before she withdrew it. “But,” she added, “I 
am very sorry for Mr. Hallett.” 

“ He has behaved splendidly,” said Blaket “ He is a fine 
fellow. We shall not bear each other any animosity.^ He 
figlits fair, and when the fight is over he shakes hands. We 
have shaken hands, and have agreed to bury personal differ- 
ences. Political differences, I am afraid, we shall never 
bury.” 

“Tell me,” she said, abruptly. “What did you do last 
night ? ” 

“ It does not matter. Miss Valliant, since I did not disturb 
you again. I took care not to do that. ” 

“ No, you did not disturb me,” she answered. “ But I did 
not go to sleep till nearly daybreak, and Mr. Trant must 
have come in after that.” 

“Yes, he came in after that.” 

“ Your horse did not look as though you had ridden very 
far last night. ” 

“ I accomplished my purpose,” he said ; “ I worked off 
my excitement.” 

“ And you did not meet Moonlight ? ” 

He laughed. “ So Moonlight was abroad last night ? ” 

“ Strange, wasn’t it ? ” 

“ Captain Macpherson has not caught him yet ? ” 

“ Have you heard ? ” she asked. 

“ He has not caught him yet. I don’t think he is likely 
to catch him.” 

“ Now that you are member for Luya, Mr. Blake,” Elsie 
went on, “ you will have to do something to preserve the 
peace of the district.” 

“ What should you like me to do ? ” he said. “Ask a 
question in the House and twit the Government with the 
fact that all the police of the district are held at bay by an 
un discoverable outlaw ? ” 

“ No, I don’t want you to deprive us of our chief excite- 
ment, not that it will matter much to me, for I am soon 


IS 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


going back to Leichardt’s Town, and frankly I am full of 
sympathy for Moonlight. Do you know that one of the 
troopers says that he speaks a strange language ? ” 

Blake laughed. “ I understand that he was heard to give 
an order to fire in French, and Captain Macpherson has 
started the theory that he is an escaped convict from New 
Caledonia.” 

Lady Horace came out of her room just then, and ad- 
vanced to her sister and Blake. Her eyes had a frightened 
look. “Elsie,” she said, “I should like to know Mr. Blake.” 
She held out her hand with her charming smile. “ I can- 
not say that I am glad you have got in, but I am glad, at any 
rate, that the fight is over.” 

“ And the hatchet is buried, Lady Horace,” said Blake, 
acknowledging her salutation with a very courtly bow. “ I 
suppose you know that the rival candidates and their sup- 
porters dine together to-night, and that we shall all make 
pretty speeches about each other and be good friends hence- 
forth ? ” 

They said a few more words, and then Blake left them. 
The two sisters went back to the sitting-room. “Elsie,” Ina 
said on the way thither, “ don’t begin to flirt with that man.” 

“ Why not, dear ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ Because he will make you do what he likes,” said Ina, 
“I see it in his eyes.” The light of a gas jet fell on her 
agitated face and blurred lashes. 

“Ina, you have been crying,” exclaimed Elsie. “What 
is the matter ? Has Horace been doing anything to vex 
you ? ” 

“ No— I ” Ina stammered. “ I am very happy, Elsie, 

I’m only sorry for Mr. Hallett ; and -you don’t care. You 
are wishing joy to the man who has supplanted him. You 
have nothing kind to say to Frank, who loves you. He is 
in there waiting, and hoping to see you. Oh, go to him, 
Elsie, and say that you are sorry.” 

Ina pushed Elsie in and ran back to her room. 

Frank Hallett was there alone. He was standing by the 
mantelpiece, and looked grim and sad. It struck her for 


THE MEMBER FOR BUY A. Y9 

the first time almost that he, too, looked a man of power. 
He lifted his head as she entered and smiled. 

“You see you were right. I am beaten— but only for 
the Luya. I shall have another chance directly.” 

“What do you mean ? — Oh, Frank, I am sorry.” 

“ Thank you, Elsie.” He took her hand in his and held 
it. “ Thank you, dear. That makes up for other things. 
It is an odd chance, isn’t it, that on the very day of ray 
being beaten for the Luya, the Wallaroo vacancy should be 
declared ? ” 

“ Wallaroo ! I hadn’t heard.” 

“ Lady Horace knew — it is all over the place. Fletcher 
has resigned.” 

“Yes, yes, I remember, but I did not connect the two 
things,” Elsie stammered. “There has been so much to 
think of — Moonlight and this. You will get in here.” 

“And I have another electioneering campaign before 
me. It will not be a long one, however, and I don’t start 
till after the Tunimba festivities.” 

“You see,” he added with a rather bitter little laugh, 
“ it is as we thought. The trophies of victory have been 
turned into the symbols of defeat. We shall be celebrating 
the triumph of my opponent. Blake’s first appearance 
among us will be as the member for Luya.” 

“ Oh!— Frank ” 

“Are you sorry, Elsie ? Be truthful.” 

“ Sorry — for your defeat ? Of course I am sorry.” 

“ But for his victory Are you sorry for that ? ” 

“ I don’t think you have any right to question me in this 
way,” she said, proudly. 

“ No, no, I have no right. But I watched your face this 
morning, and I watched it last evening, when you were 
listening to him speaking. I saw that you were straining 
to catch the words. And somehow, Elsie, you don’t seem 
like yourself to-day. You look as though your thoughts 
were far from Goondi, and from the election and from 
everything that concerns us here.” 

' “ No, Frank, but I am tired. I— I ” There was al- 


80 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


most a sob in her voice. “ You are quite right. I am not 
myself. I don’t know what is the matter with me. I did 
not sleep very well last night.” 

“ You did not sleep! Did anyone— were you frightened 
at the noises in the hotel ? ” 

“No.” She hesitated. 

“But there were noises,” he said. “ I heard the tramp- 
ing of horses’ feet in the yard. I wondered who could 
have come so late.” 

“ It was nothing,” she said, hurriedly. “No, I was not 
disturbed. Don’t think anything more about my looks, 
Frank, or about things. It doesn’t matter after all, since 
you are sure to be member for Wallaroo.” 

At that moment Lord Horace’s voice sounded in the 
passage. He ushered in the victorious Blake, pausing as he 
did so to give some directions to the waiter. “ Heidseck — 
spurious, of course, Blake, but not half bad. Hallett, old 
boy, swallow down animosities; drown ’em in the flowing 
bowl, and Elsie and Ina must join in. The fight was a fair 
one, and we’re beaten. There’s Wallaroo ahead, a dead 
certain! ty if ever there was one.” 

Hallett came forward, and held out his hand to his rival. 
“ You are right, Horace, and I congratulate you, Mr. Blake.” 

Elsie admired him at the moment very much, but she 
admired Blake still more, as, with winning courtesy, he 
responded to Hallett’s congratulations. 

“ If there had been twenty fewer Irishmen in Goondi, 
you, not I, would have been member for Luya,” he said. 
“But, as Lord Horace says, there’s Wallaroo ahead, and we 
shall fight in the Legislative Assembly yet, Mr. Hallett, in 
as friendly a fashion, I hope, as we have fought here.” 


A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 


81 


CHAPTER IX. 

A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 

Tunimba was considered one of the most beautiful sta- 
tons on the Luya. It was almost in the shadow of Mount 
Luya and of the twin peaks of the Burrum. Barolin Gorge 
— a misty cleft — stretched up between the two into the 
dividing range, and seemed to Elsie’s imagination the pas- 
sage to a realm of mystery. 

Mrs. Jem Hallett had the reputation of being a most 
accomplished hostess. She was always called Mrs. Jem, 
because the elder Mrs. Hallett, mother of the two brothers, 
was still alive and occupied a pretty cottage about a stone’s 
throw from the big house. But the old lady was an inva- 
lid, and took no part in the domestic management of the 
station, leaving everything to her clever daughter-in-law. 
Mrs. Jem was very handsome — a little self-conscious, but 
that was hardly surprising. She had big black eyes and, 
unlike most Australians, a rich colour. She was tall also 
and elegant, and alwaj^s dressed with great care and taste. 

Nothing more unlike the Humpey could be imagined. 
Tunimba head-station was an imposing stone house with 
deep verandahs trellised with creepers, a beautifully kept 
garden, a gravelled courtyard, and beds planted with flower- 
ing shrubs and pomegranate trees and camellias. It had 
outbuildings after the newest and most improved pattern, 
stables, a retinue of smartly got up black boys and grooms, 
trim fences and white gates, and last, but greatest of all, a 
Chinese cook. The head station stood on a small hill, and 
the garden sloped down to a lagoon, as is the case in many 
Australian homesteads. Beyond the lagoon was the race- 
course, and on this particular occasion — the tenth anniver- 
sary of Mr. and Mrs. Jem’s wedding day — there were to be 
given some bush races — a sort of friendly competition 
among the horse-owners of the district, which was rather 
noted for its races and the horses they intended to run at 
the forthcoming Leichardt’s Town Races. 


82 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Mrs. Jem received her principal guests on the verandah 
facing the courtyard, and herself conducted them to the 
di*avving-room. It was her great aim to be considered 
English, and she always made a great deal of Lord Hor- 
ace, who was at his best on these occasions, and import- 
ed something of the British country-house element into 
these bush gatherings. She had been accustomed to rather 
patronize the Valliant girls in the days before Ina’s mar- 
riage, and it had been at her house that Lord Horace first 
met Ina. Sbe, therefore, took credit to herself for the 
match. 

“ I am so glad you came, dear. Thank you both, love, 
for your good wishes. Wasn’t it a happy idea putting the 
races on to our wedding day ? Of course we couldn’t possi- 
bly have had them at the election time. Oh, such a pity, 
isn’t it, about Frank ? We had made so sure. But he is quite 
certain to get in for Wallaroo, and we must just make the 
best of Mr. Blake, who is quite charming. Such a pity he 
is on the wrong side, but Jem says, Elsie, that you must con- 
vert him.” 

Mrs. Jem had quite a number of people already assem- 
bled when the Gages and Miss Valliant arrived. Jem Hal- 
lett was a handsome, rather heavy squatter, excessively 
good-natured, but not as clever and enterprising as his 
brother. He was far too lazy to go into politics, and con- 
tented himself with having the best breed of cattle on the 
Luya. 

Mrs. Jem interrupted her husband’s heavy jokes, and 
sent him off to look after the gentlemen and bring them in 
to tea. Her drawing-room looked extremely English, with 
its daintily laid tea-table, and pretty silver things, and with 
its art muslin draperies, and upholstered lounges and arm- 
chairs. Several ladies were sitting there, and others were 
playing about in the verandah and on the tennis lawn. 
Those in the drawing-room were for the most part matrons, 
and among them were one or two Leichardt’s Town mag- 
nates — Lady Garfit, the wife of the Minister for Lands, and 
her daughter ; there was pretty Mrs. Allanby, who gave 


A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 


83 


parties in Leichardt’s Town, and whose husband was a stock 
and station agent ; two or three of the neighbouring squat- 
teresses, several young ladies, rivals of Elsie as popular 
belles, who came in from the verandah when the Gage party 
appeared. Lady Horace’s marriage had produced a certain 
access of cordiality in the manner of the Leichardt’s Town 
dames, especially now that it was known that Lord and 
Lady Waveryng were coming out, and would be guests at 
Government House during the time of the Prince’s visit. 
Formerly Mrs. Valliant and her pretty daughters had only 
been admitted on sufPerance into the more select circle of 
Leichardt’s Town society, and this gave Elsie Valliant’s 
manner a dash of defiance as she acknowledged their greet- 
ings. The girl was full of hatred and malice— at least so 
she told Ina — and it flashed through her mind that there 
might be some great person in the Prince’s suite who would 
fall in love with her and marry her, and that she might 
revenge herself on these second rate people for all their 
slights. She was an undeveloped creature, this poor Elsie. 
There was nothing very great in her, or very noble. She 
was full of meannesses and littlenesses and jealousies, for 
which she despised herself in her more exalted moments, but 
there had never come anything into her life to call forth 
higher sentiments. She sometimes fancied that if such 
thing did come she, too, could prove herself heroic. Ina 
was better than she. No one acknowledged that more 
readily than Elsie. But then Ina had not been the idol of a 
foolish mother, and Ina had never been a beauty. 

Elsie had never looked more lovely than she did that 
evening when she went into the drawing-room dressed for 
dinner. She and Ina had spent some time in the concoc- 
tion of the costume, and then Elsie had had a fit of peni- 
tence, and had insisted on making something lovely for 
Ina, too. It struck Elsie that Ina seemed shy and agitated, 
and she wondered if Lord Horace had been cross. Now 
that the blush of the honeymoon was over, Lord Horace 
had fits of downright crossness. And Lord Horace was 
certainly selfish and exacting. He made his wife do things 


84 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


for him that he would not have required from a Lady Clara 
Vere-de-Vere. This Elsie resented. What right had he to 
expect that her sister would act as his valet ? Ina did every- 
thing that he asked her, and was patient and sweet as far 
famed Grizzel. But she always said that she was happy. 

Frank Hallett took Elsie in to dinner. Lord Hoi’ace 
naturally conducted Mrs. Jem, and Mr. Blake was .given to 
Lady Horace. Mrs. Jem had waived the rules of strict 
etiquette so far as to give Lady Garfit the precedence over 
some time Ina Valliant. Blake and Ina were seated oppo- 
site Elsie and Frank. Somehow, whenever she glanced 
across the table, Elsie seemed to meet Blake’s eyes. He had 
such odd eyes — so deep and piercing. She could never for- 
get their wild gleam on that strange night at Goondi. 
Blake had a stephanotis flower in his buttonhole. So had 
Frank Hallett. She remembered having said to Blake one 
day at Goondi — the day after the declaration of the poll, 
when they had walked down the street of the township while 
waiting for the coach, and to hear the latest news of Moon- 
light — or rather to hear the news of Moonlight’s vain pur- 
suers — that the stephanotis was her favourite flower. 
Blake’s voice enchained her attention, and made her listen 
carelessly to what Frank Hallett was saying. She won- 
dered what Blake was talking about to Ina. She felt al- 
most certain from the way they both looked at her that she 
herself was the subject of conversation. 

She was the subject also of Mr. Dominic Trant’s regard. 
He was on her other side, and devoted much more con- 
sideration to her than to his legitimate partner. He would 
insist upon discoursing about Blake in what Elsie felt to 
be rather a crude fashion. 

“ You remember what I said to you the other night. Miss' 
Valliant ? ” 

“I am not sure that I do, Mr. Trant.” 

“I told you that my partner was rather a dangerous cus- 
tomer. You know there’s such a thing as the biter getting 
bit. Any woman who plays with Blake will find that she 
is playing with fire.” 


A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 


85 


“ I don't understand you, Mr. Trant ; or how what you • 
say can in any way apply to me.” 

“ They say you are a flirt. So is Blake.” 

“Well?” 

“ He never cared for a woman in his life, Miss Valliant; 
but it has always been with him as it is with the sportsman 
after game. The more difficult it is to get, the more fel- 
lows there are after it, the more determined he is that it 
should fall to his gun. Blake would follow a woman he 
thought worth his trouble through thick and thin till he 
had got her down at his feet.” 

“ And then ? ” 

“Why, then, Miss Valliant, he’d tell her that he had no 
heart to give, and he would leave her to further enjoy the 
excitement of going after other game. That is all Blake 
cares for — the excitement of doing what other people have 
failed to do.” 

“And so,” said Elsie, “Mr. Blake goes about with 
women’s scalps at his belt, and you fancy that he might do 
me the honour of wishing to adorn himself with mine. It 
is very kind of you to warn me. Why are you so inter- 
ested in my welfare ? ” 

“ Because I want you for myself,” said Trant, brutally. 

“ That is very kind of you, too,” said Elsie. “ I like your 
way of playing a game, Mr. Trant. It is honest, at any 
rate.” She turned to Frank Hallett and pointedly avoided 
Trant. 

He came up to her, however, as soon as dinner was over. 

“ I have come to beg your pardon. I’m a rough brute. I 
throw myself on your mercy.” 

“ Please don’t offend again then,” said Elsie. 

“I’ll go on my knees to you, if you like. I’ll promise 
anything. The only thing I’m good for is to sing. Mrs. 
Jem Hallett has asked me to sing. You’ll forgive me when 
you hear me sing. I am going to sing something to you.’’’* 

The man was right. His merit lay in his voice. It was 
impossible not to be moved by his singing. They were all 
sitting out in the verandah or strolling about the star-lit 


86 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


garden, which was full of the scent of stephanotis, verbena, 
and Cape jasmine. Mrs. Jem had started music in the draw- 
ing-room while the dining-room, which was a great room 
with a polished floor, was being got ready for dancing. 
Elsie had already a little crowd of men round her. Several 
were Leichardt’s Town admirers. The old fever for admira- 
tion was upon her. From one she accepted a flower. To 
another she gave one. She had smiles for all. Then Trant 
began to sing. A vague emotion seized her, a sudden irre- 
sistible longing for the deeper drama of life. There was so 
much beyond all this flirting and dancing and dressing, so 
much of which she was totally ignorant. Even Trant with 
the coarse passion in his voice represented a world of feeling 
that she had never entered. She became silent, and would 
not answer the young men’s banal remarks. 

“Hush — go away, I want to listen,” she said, and sat 
there, her profile outlined against the dark night, the light 
from the drawing-room upon her serious face and shining 
eyes and slender girlish form ; she sat v/ith her hands folded, 
quite still. Someone came and leaned against the verandah 
post by her side. She knew without looking at him that it 
was Blake. She knew, too, that he was watching her, and 
the feeling gave her an odd thrill and presently drew her 
eyes to his. Trant’s songs ceased ; and his accompanist went 
on playing desultory chords. 

Mr. Blake said suddenly : “ Do you do anything — I mean 
in the way of music ? ” 

No,” answered Elsie. “ I do nothing— nothing at least 
that gives people pleasure.” 

“ I should say that you did a great deal which gave peo- 
ple pleasure. You exist — that is something.” 

“I wish you wouldn’t pay me compliments in that un- 
meaning way. I hate it. It is like everybody else. ” 

“You would like me then to, be unlike everybody else. 
Thank you. I like you to say that.” 

“Why?” 

“ Because it shows that you think about me.” 

“ I don’t see that that matters.” 


A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 87 

“Oh, yes, it does — to me. I have been watching you, 
Miss Valliant, wondering ” 

“ Wondering what ? ” 

“Wondering what lies underneath the butterfly existence 
you seem to lead.” 

“ Ah ! you think I am a butterfly.” 

“I think that you know how to papillonner la vie — as 
one says, but that is a different thing from being a butter- 
fly.” 

“ I don’t understand much French, hut I understand 
enough to know what that means.” 

“It’s a great art — to pa.pillonner la vie.''' 

“ Do you practice it ? ” she asked. 

“ I try to. But I have moods in which life seems deadly 
serious.” 

“Were you in one of those moods that night ?” 

“ Ah ! No, I was in a reckless mood that night. I have 
quite got over it now.” 

“ And you are in the butterfly phase,” she said, a little 
bitterly. 

“ Why do you say that in such a contemptuous way ? ” 

“ I was thinking of something Mr. Trant told me about 
you.” 

“ What was that ? ” 

“I don’t think I ought to tell you.” 

“I can guess what it was. Trant reproaches me with 
liking ladies’ society too much. I am sure he told you that 
I was a flirt.” 

“Yes, he said something of that kind, only he put it more 
strongly.” 

“ How ? You needn’t mind telling me what Trant said 
about me. I am sure that he has often said the same things 
to my face.” 

“So he told me.” 

“ He warned you against me, didn’t he ? ” 

“Yes ” 

“ And he described me as a conceited cad who tried to be 
a lady-killer ? ” 


88 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“No, he didn’t say that. He described you as a person 
who liked to make women fall in love with him, and who 
went about with hearts as trophies in the way that an Indian 
carries scalps.” 

“ Oh ! That was putting it melodramatically. Miss Val- 
liant, perhaps you will think me a conceited cad when I say 
that the game of love — or flirtation — has given me some 
amusement in my life, but that when I found it becoming 
serious for myself, or for the other person, I have always 
stopped short, unless ” 

“Well, unless?” 

“Unless it was a fair contest. Hearts not in it; The 
best fighter wins — and friends when the fight is over ; like 
our election the other day. Isn’t that your idea of a flirta- 
tion tournament ? ” 

“Yes — perhaps — I haven’t any theoiy about it.” 

“You only practise the game. Well, don’t you think 
that two skilled players might get a good deal of fun out of 
such a game ? ” 

“I don’t know.” Elsie was getting a little uncomfort- 
able, and at the same time was deeply interested. 

“Oh yes, you do. Because Trant implied that in this 
instance it is a case of Greek meeting Greek. Well, Miss 
Valliant, is it a challenge ? ” 

“If you like to take it so,” she answered recklessly. 
There was a silence. 

“ Yes, I do,” he answered seriously. “ I think it is very 
likely that I shall get beaten ; but I accept the challenge. 
Will you dance this with me,” he asked in a matter of fact 
tone. “ That is a waltz, isn’t it ? ” 

She got up. At that moment Frank Hallett came up. 

“Miss Valliant, you will give me this ? ” 

Elsie hesitated. Blake said nothing, but his eyes were 
on her. “ I am engaged to Mr. Blake,” she said at last. 

Frank Hallett drew back. 

“ The one after the next, then ? I am going to dance the 
next with your sister.” 

Elsie nodded. “ Yes, the one after the next.” 


A BUSH HOUSE PARTY. 


89 


She took Blake’s arm and they went into the dancing 
room. He danced extremely well. So did she. Elsie had 
never felt before during a dance as she felt now. She had 
at once a sense of intoxication and terror. She had begun 
to be afraid of Blake, and she had never in her life been 
afraid of any man. What had he meant by asking her if 
she had given him a challenge. What did he think of her ? 
What had he heard about her ? Well, she would show him 
that she could take care of herself. 

The w’altz ended, and they strolled into the garden. The' 
moon was rising, and threw fantastic shadows upon the 
gravelled walk. 

“ Mr. Blake,” Elsie said, suddenly, “ will you please tell 
me what you meant when you told me — that day by the 
creek — the day I threw the flower at your horse — that you 
had been wishing to make my acquaintance for a particular 
reason ? Will you tell me what the reason was ? ” 

“ If you wish it,” he said ; “ but it is rather a long story. 
I don’t think I can get it into the interval between this and 
the next dance.” 

“I am not engaged for the next dance. We will sit it 
out — unless you want to dance.” 

“ No. It seems absurd to say that I would much rather 
sit it out with you.” 

“ Why absurd ? ” 

“You forbade me to pay you compliments,” he an- 
swered. 

They turned towards the lagoon, out of the track of 
promenaders. There was an avenue- of bunyas leading to 
the boathouse, and the dark pyramidal pine trees looked 
strangely solemn in the moonlight. Elsie gave a little 
shiver. 

“I hate this walk. It puts me in mind of a churchyard. 
Come down here. There’s a seat close to the house, and I 
shall be able to hear when the waltz begins.” 

She took him into a vine trellis to the right, and they sat 
down on a bench which was placed in a sort of arbour. 


90 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKKR. 


CHAPTER X. 

JENSEN’S GHOST. 

“ Well,” she said. “Why?” 

“ Why ! ” he repeated. “ Do you know any people at 
Teebar ? ” 

“No,” she answered — and blushed at one of her most 
painful recollections which the name evoked. “ At least — 
hot now.” 

“ No, because the person you once knew, and who lived 
there, is dead. He was a man called J ensen. I knew him 
very well. He had a station close by the township.” 

“ Yes,” she said, in a stilled way. 

“He took to drinking, as you know, and killed himself.” 

“ I did not know. Killed himself ? ” 

“As surely as any man who ever blew his brains out. 
He did not drink, did he, when you knew him ? ” 

“No. Mr. Blake, I know what you mean, and it is 
cruel, it is wicked to blame me for that.” She half rose in 
her agitation. “ It wasn’t my fault that he ” 

“That he loved you. No, that was certainly not your 
fault. There must be a great many men who love you. 
But I was sorry for poor Jensen. He looked a stupid fel- 
low when I knew him, but he was clever enough to write 
very decent verse. And he looked rather a weak creature, 
but he was strong enough to be faithful to the one woman 
he ever loved.” 

“ What did he tell you about me ? Don’t be afraid of 
hurting me.” 

“ He told me all that had ever passed between you — his 
version of course, but it was so detailed that I think it must 
have been pretty near the truth. You encouraged him a 
good deal.” 

“Yes — I encouraged him.” 

“ I think you were engaged to him for two days ? ” 

“ I — I said I would marry him— if I could like him well 
enough.” 


JFNjSEN^S ghost. 


91 


“ And at the end of two days — you didn’t give it a long 
trial— you told him that you had only engaged yourself for 
an experiment, to see what it felt like, and you thi’ew him 
over.” 

“ Yes, that is true. I couldn’t care for liim enough.” 

There was a silence. At last he said, “ I saw a good deal 
of Jensen. I did what I could to reclaim him, but he said 
he had no faith in man nor woman, and no motive for liv- 
ing. From what I could gather, he used to be a healthy- 
minded man, fond of sport and of work, and not disposed to 
take a morbid view of life. You will understand that I was 
naturally anxious to meet the lady who had been able to 
effect such a change, but besides, all that he told me about 
you made me feel that you would be interesting.” 

Elsie seemed to be strangling emotion. She spoke in a 
hard voice, cut once or twice with a dry sob, and with her 
, face turned from him. 

“ I know what you must think of me. You must think 
that I am fair game for anybody. You must think that I 
j am as bad as a woman can be. I am certainly not going to 
! excuse myself. I only want to say that I was very young, 
and that I had never felt deeply about anything, and had 
no idea that anyone else could feel in that way. I want to 
say, too, that I had been brought up to think that I must 
J marry well ” 

I “ And Jensen was very well off. Yes, I know.” 

“It is horrible. It is humiliating. It is utterly undig- 
j nified. When I think of it my cheeks burn, and I loathe 
^ myself. Do you know,” her voice dropped though she spoke 
with passionate vehemence, “ he is the only man— except 
my father — who has ever kissed me ? I hate him for that.” 

Blake uttered an exclamation of mingled surprise and 
sympathy. He had never dreamed of this odd kind of vir- 
ginal pride in Elsie. Her curious unconventionality, her 
impulsive speech, atl that he had heard of her had prepared 
him for a different sort of woman. 

Elsie went on still in that hurried vehement way. “I 
hated him the day he did that, and I told him so. I suppose 
7 


92 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


he told you that. I felt that I never wanted to see him 
again — to be taken possession of — that wasn’t what I meant. 
It is quite true that I had had a fancy that it might he amus- 
ing to be engaged. I have always had a curiosity about life, 
about different kinds of experience. I thought that I should 
have an entirely new set of feelings, and that this was to be 
the door to them. You can’t imagine anything more child- 
ish, and stupid, and ignorant. I don’t know why I am tell- 
ing you all this. I hate myself for doing so.” 

“ Don’t do that,” he said in a different manner from his 
former one. “ I am very glad that you have told me.” 

“ I have been trying to forget it all. I wmuld never let 
myself think of it. I heard that he had died, but I did not 
know how. As I got to know other men, and saw for how 
little flirtation counted, and how soon they got over disap- 
pointments of that kind, I got to think less about it. And 
then I never felt deeply about anybody, and how could I 
know ” 

That anybody might come to feel deeply about you ? 
And so you have gone on flirting with men, and liking them, 
perhaps, until they too have wanted to take possession of you, 
and then that fierce thing in you has roused up and has made 
you cruel. You have never yet met your match — quite.” 

The “ quite ” was an afterthought. He was thinking of 
Frank Hallett. 

“ I hope,” he went on, “ that you won’t find your match 
after you are married. That would be the worst misfortune 
that could happen to you.” 

“Why do you say that ? ” she asked. 

“ Because all that you have told me makes me certain 
that you have the capacity for a feeling which when it comes 
will almost frighten you. ” 

“Could one be frightened of love ? ” she said softly. “ I 
have often wished that I could really love someone.” 

“ Don’t wish it — unless you are quite certain that the man 
you love is worthy of your love and capable of giving you 
back all that you give — don’t wish it unless you are certain, 
too, that the man you love can marry you.” 


GHOST. 


93 


She shrank together a little. “ I think we had better go 
in,” she said. “ The dance will begin presently.” 

He got up and gravely offered her his arm. “ Miss Val- 
liant, you are going back soon to Leichardt’s Town. Will 
you allow me to call upon you and your mother ? ” 

‘‘ Yes, certainly,” she answered, and added, “ We live on 
Emu Point.” 

They walked towards the house. Before they reached 
the verandah, Elsie stopped and faced him. “ I am very 
sorry for what I said- to you this evening,” she said impul- 
sively. “ I hope you will forget it.” 

“ I am afraid that I can’t promise to do that,” he an- 
swered. 

“Then at least you will not remind me of it.” 

“ Ah ! that of course I can promise. As far as lies in my 
power I will try not to remind you of it.” 

“ Thank you. I think that I will sit down here. If you 
see Mr. Frank Hallett will you tell him where I am ? ” 

He left her. She had not long to wait. Frank Hal- 
lett was walking up and down with Lady Horace, and he 
had seen her come back with Blake. They both came to 
her. 

“ Elsie,” Ina said, “ what is the matter ? ” 

“ Nothing,” said Elsie. “ Why ? ” 

“You look scared somehow.” 

“ I think it must be because I have been seeing ghosts,” 
said Elsie, tremulously. 

“ Ghosts ! ” repeated Lady Horace. 

Elsie did not answer. 

“ It must have been the effect of the moonlight in the gar- 
den,” said Hallett. “ Those pyramids of rhynca-sporum do 
look rather like white ghosts.” 

Elsie burst into 'a laugh. 

“ How like you that speech was ! You are really a very 
comforting person. You always find a natural and reason- 
able explanation for all one’s vagaries, for all one’s stupid 
superstitious fancies.” 

“ I am glad,” he said gravely, “ that you find me a com- 


94 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


forting person. But I don’t think that is what you like 
best.” 

“ What is it that I like best ? ” 

“ Something more romantic. I know that I am a very 
prosaic kind of fellow. But perhaps that wears best in the 
long run, and most stupid superstitious fancies do admit of a 
reasonable and natural explanation.” 

They began to dance. The waltz with him was not quite 
like the one with Blake. She was conscious of this, and she 
was angry with herself for being so. Why should a girl, 
when two men waltz equally well, feel a subtler intoxica- 
tion in the contact and joint motion with the one than with 
the other ? They had only taken a few turns when she 
stopped him. 

“ I don’t want to dance. I’m tired.” 

They went out into the verandah again. He was con- 
cerned. 

“ Something is the matter with you.” 

“ No. Yes — everything is the matter.” 

“ Tell me, Elsie,” he said. 

“Frank, if I ever give you bad pain— if you are misled 
by your own fancies, and think me better, and truer, and 
more sincere than I am, and wake up to find that I am a 
vain, ambitious, mercenary girl, wdth no real thought for 
anyone but herself, don’t say that I haven’t warned you.” 

“ You have warned me often enough, and I told you that 
I was quite contented to take the risk. I can’t bear you to 
talk like that, and yet I’m glad too.” 

“ Tell me why you are glad.” 

“ Because if you weren’t getting to care for me a little, 
you wouldn’t be troubled at the thought of the suffering you 
might cause me.” 

“I am troubled — horribly troubled. And of course I 
care a little for you. I care a great deal, but it isn’t the sort 
of caring I mean.” 

“ The sort of caring you mean is a romantic dream — the 
glamour that never was on sea or land, but only in the 
imagination of romance writers. I don’t mind entering the 


JBJVSE^^'S GHOST. 


95 


lists with your Prince, Elsie dear. I can wait. He won’t 
come along. Princes like that don’t ride through the gum- 
trees.” 

“ Now,” she said seriously, “ it pleases me to hear you talk 
like that. It makes me feel that you are strong. I wish 
that you were strong enough to carry me off and put an end 
to my doubts for ever. ” 

“ Shall I try ? ” 

“No, no. Give me my year. Frank, I do not want to 
care for you. I am grateful to you for loving me. You’ll 
believe that.” 

Elsie slept badly that night. They had danced till long 
past midnight, and she had tried to drown her guilty recol- 
lection of poor Jensen. She had danced again with Blake, 
and they had talked in the verandah afterwards, not of per- 
sonal topics. With a tact which she appreciated he avoided 
allusion to their previous conversation — but of travel, of 
men and women and books, of life on the Luya, and of the 
wider life beyond. And she had danced with Trant, and he 
had been very personal, and had expressed his admiration 
with a certain respectful bluutness which had amused her, 
and bad done more than anything else to distract her 
thoughts from more painful subjects. She told herself that 
if he was a little rough he meant no harm ; and that his 
roughness was of a more interesting kind than that of the 
Luya squatters in general. Elsie was not very fond of bush- 
men. She preferred the Bank-clerks and young Civil-serv- 
ants of Leichardt's Town. 

She had danced, too, more than once again with Hallett^ 
and she was doing her very best to persuade herself that the 
regard she felt for Frank Hallett was the nearest approach 
she should ever get to love. And then she had seen very 
plainly that Lady Gar fit and her daughter were making up 
to the Halletts, and that Frank was clearly an object of de- 
sire in matrimonial circles. It was perfectly evident that 
j Rose Garfit was in love with him. Rose was another type 
I of Leichardt’s Town. She was not soft and slender and 
I complex, like Elsie, but was a great Junoesque creature, with 


96 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


calm blue eyes and quantities of flaxen hair, a downright 
sort of girl, absolutely good-natured, a splendid horsewoman, 
a good tennis-player, always bright and smiling and equable, 
and in every way a desirable wife for a well-to-do squatter. 
Elsie did not actually dislike Eose, who did not want to give 
herself airs, though she had always seemed to hold herself 
aloof in a calmly superior way from the lesser fry of Leich- 
ardt’s Town. This was because of her father’s position, and 
because she was al ways better dressed, and had carriages and 
riding-horses, which she — poor Elsie — never had unless some 
obliging admirer gave her a mount. But Elsie hated Lady 
Garfit with a holy hatred, for Lady Garflt had snubbed her 
on more than one occasion, and had done all she could to 
keep Elsie out of the Government House set, promulgating 
the report that she was fast and bad style, and even that she 
rouged. Elsie would have done anything to annoy Lady 
Garfit, and it was very evident that Lady Garfit was ex- 
tremely annoyed at Frank Hallett’s devotion. 

There were other ladies, too, before whom Elsie was not 
displeased to parade her conquests. She could see that 
Mrs. Allanby was furious because she had sat out with Mr. 
Blake, and because Frank Hallett had forgotten a dance 
for which he was engaged to her, while he in his turn was 
sitting out with Elsie. But Mrs. Allanby revenged herself 
by flirting with Lord Horace. And then there was Minna 
Pryde, of Leichardt’s Town, who was more on Elsie’s social 
level than Eose Garflt, who never lost an opportunity of, as 
she put it, “ spiting” Elsie about her “beaux.” Minna was 
dark, and pretty and vivacious, and was certainly not good 
style, and not at all in favour with the more fastidious of the 
Leichardt’s Town matrons. Elsie was also rather pleased to 
vex Mrs. Jem, who patronized her, and who, she knew, would 
have preferred Eose Garfit for a sister-in-law. These un- 
charitable motives had been more or less preponderant all 
the evening, but in the stillness of her chamber they melted 
into a rain of tears. She did not dare to cry out aloud, 
lest she should wake Ina. The two sisters shared a tiny 
verandah room, Lord Horace having been sent, with almost 


ON THE RACE-COURSE. 


97 


all the other gentlemerif to the bachelors’ quarters, where, 
judging from the sounds of revelry that floated on the 
night, he was doubtless enjoying himself. 


CHAPTER XI. 

ON THE RACE-COURSE. 

The head station at Tunimba was astir betimes, and 
long before the big bell clauged for breakfast, prepara- 
tions on the race-course had begun and flags marked the 
line of running, and waved on the top of an extemporized 
Grand Stand. Frank Hallett was waiting in the verandah 
when Lady Horace and Elsie came out. They were in their 
habits, like most of the other ladies, since nearly everybody 
was to ride to the course. 

“ I thought you might like me to show you your places 
at the breakfast table,” he said. “ Most have gone in. 
There are a quantity of people here already, and more com- 
ing from everywhere.” 

Breakfast was not in the dining-room to-day, but in the 
old woolshed — a large slab bark building, about a hundred 
yards beyond the courtyard, which was always utilized on 
these occasions, and in which they were to dance in the 
evening. Tunimba had once been a sheep-station, in the 
days before the Halletts had bought it, but sheep did not 
do well on the Luya. On an Australian station an “ old 
woolshed” is an institution, and the homestead which 
possesses one is usually the centre for the festivities of the 
district. 

It was a queer picturesque place, with its dark walls, 
and beamed and raftered ceiling, and it had been decorated 
with creepers from the scrub, and now looked very gay in- 
deed, filled with a chattering crowd — hushmen in immacu- 
late moleskins and flaring ties, and with a generally brown, 
healthy, and excited appearance; ladies in habits, some of 


98 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


home manufacture, others the product of Leichardt’s Town 
tailors, so that there were all varieties from the honest brown 
and grey wincey to the Park turn-out with high hat and 
boots. The girls were, many of them, very coquettishly got 
up, and stephanotis was in favour for a breast-knot. 

Outside, a good many men were lounging about discus- 
sing the merits of their horses, settling matters with their 
jockeys, and taking notes of the new competitors. There 
was a good deal of interest in the Barolin horses. The 
breed was getting a name, and Trant, to use a colonialism, 
was “ blowing ’’ loudly about his chances of taking the Luya 
Cup, and cutting out Frank Hallett, who had won it the 
previous year, with his thorough-bred pipsy Girl. 

Mr. Blake came up and shook hands with Lady Horace 
and her sister. 

“ I have been waiting for you,” he said to Elsie, as they 
fell back a little — “ because I want to sit next you, if I may, 
and also because I want to ask you if you will ride a horse 
of mine, which is a perfect ladies’ hack, on the course to- 
day. I heard you telling Lord Horace last night that you 
didn’t like the one you rode from the Dell.” 

“ Thank you,” said Elsie. “ I should like to ride your 
horse. But Mr. Frank Hallett has offered me one. ' I. am 
the luckiest young woman in the world. Everybody has 
offered me horses.” 

“Then your only difidculty will be in selecting,” said 
Blake. 

“ I like riding new horses,” said Elsie. 

“Then,” said Frank Hallett, a little stiffly, but feeling 
that he was magnanimous, and that he could afford to be 
so, “ you will perhaps be wise to accept Mr. Blake’s offer. 
If it is the horse he rode yesterday you will be much better 
mounted than on mine. 

He turned again to Lady Horace. 

“ Mr. Hallett is very generous,” said Blake. 

“ Is it Osman ? ” said Elsie, ignoring the remark. “ The 
hoi*se that nearly knocked you against a tree that day at 
the Crossing.” 


ON THE MACE-COURSE. 


99 


He gave a little start. “No. I wouldn’t put you on 
that horse.” 

“I shouldn’t be at all afraid of him. I never saw such 
a beauty. Perhaps you will be astonished to hear, Mr. 
Blake, considering I am a town girl, that I don’t mind what 
I sit, short of a regular buckjumper. I can even manage a 
little mild pig-jumping.” 

He laughed. “ This horse won’t even pig-jump. And I 
am not surprised at hearing of your being able to do any- 
thing — that is courageous and interesting.” * 

“ Thank you. But the last clause was such an evident 
afterthought that I don’t know whether to take that speech 
as a compliment or not. And you know you weren’t to pay 
me compliments. Mr. Blake, can you imagine what is the 
one passionate desire of my life — at present ? ” 

“ Please tell me ? ” 

“ To have a gallop on Moonlight’s Ahatos. ” 

“ It is possible that you may attain even that summit of 
bliss, if, as you once suggested. Moonlight were to carry 
you off.” 

Elsie laughed, “Moonlight isn’t in the least likely to 
show himself in the district while Captain Macpherson and 
his men are hanging round. Did you know that he was to 
he here to-day ? ” 

“ Who— Moonlight ? asked Mr. Dominic Trant, who had 
joined them. 

“Good morning, Mr. Trant,” said Elsie turning. “No, 
not Moonlight; but Captain Macpherson. What an odd 
expression you have .got on your face ! What are you 
thinking of ? ” Trant burst into a laugh. 

“I was thinking. Miss Valliant, what a curious dramatic 
sort of thing it would he if Moonlight and Captain Mac- 
pherson were to meet here as fellow guests. It’s not impos- 
sible, you know.” 

“It strikes me as most improbable,” said Elsie with 
gravity. She thought Trant’s laugh rather familiar, and 
certainly ill-timed. “ At least .1 hope so, for Moonlight’s 
sake. I always confess to a strong admiration for Moon- 


100 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


light— and I hope so for Mr. Hallett’s sake too. This is not 
a public race-course. The people here are his friends. ” 

Trant laughed again in a sort of sotto-voce manner. 
Blake was evidently thinking of something else. His brows 
were knit, and his eyes gleamed darkly from beneath them. 
They went up the wooden slope to the woolshed, and Hal- 
lett showed Elsie and Lady Horace their places. He put 
himself on one side of Elsie. Blake took the seat on the 
other. He had lingered to say a word or two to Trant. 

“ Are j^u going to run Osman for the cup ? ” Elsie asked. 

“ I am not sure. He is entered, but I believe Trant has 
withdrawn him. Tell me who is that opposite — the man 
with the sprouting beard, who looks like a jockey ? ” 

Before Elsie could reply the question was answered by a 
young Irishman from a station over the border — Mick 
Mahoney he was named — who called across. 

“And is it after the Scriptures that ye are taking a 
pattern. Captain Macpherson, and are ye making a vow 
not to cut your beard till Moonlight’s brought to justice ? 
I’m thinking that at this rate ye’ll have it to your waist.” 

“ Come, I’ve had enough of chaffing about Moonlight,” 
answered Captain Macpherson. good-humouredly, “ and you 
might let a chap enjoy his day off once in a way. I’ve 
scoured the Luya from top to bottom, not a trace of him 
have I found.” 

“And been in some pretty queer places, I’ll he hound,” 
remarked an elderly squatter. “ It’s* an awful rough country 
in the Upper Luya.” 

“Captain Macpherson,” put in Elsie Valliant, “did you 
go to the Barolin Fall ? ” 

“As near as we could get, Miss Valliant, and I wish I 
might catch Moonlight making for that blind alley. But he 
is too cute, and knows the country far too well.” 

It s a cul-dc-sctc.^ is it ? ’’ asked Mr. Blake, bending for- 
ward, and courteously addressing the police officer. “ I be- 
lieve you have been at Barolin Gorge, Captain Macpherson, 
and know my partner, Dominic Trant.” 

“ Oh, to be sure. Mr. Blake, is it ? Allow me to con- 


ON THE RACE-COURSE. 


101 


gratulate you on your victory — saving your presence, Mr. 
Frank Hallett, but I’m not altogether at one with the squat- 
terarchy, as you know. I'm half a Liberal in Australia— 
was an out-and-out one in England, which comes to the 
same thing.” 

Captain Macpherson laughed in his breezy way. When 
.not in harness he was a rather happy-go-lucky person, 
though he was grim and daring enough on the trail. “ Your 
partner, he’s down there, isn’t he ? ” and Captain Macpher- 
son nodded cheerily to Trant, “ How de do ? Yes, he was 
most obliging, was Mr. Trant. Showed us all about, and 
gave my men fresh horses ; put us on a wrong scent, too, 
with the best intentions in the world. That was a most 
harmless and respectable horse-breaker, Trant, that we fol- 
lowed like grim death across the border.” 

“ So I heard afterwards,” said Mr. Trant, imperturbably. 
“But he sounded uncommonly like Moonlight.” 

“ Tell me about the Barolin Fall,” said Elsie. 

“ It is worth seeing, I can tell you. Miss Valliant, but 
you have to work your way through a bunya scrub to get 
to it. And there’s a funny thing. None of the black track- 
ers will go near the place. You’d have thought a year or 
two in the Native Police would have cured their supersti- 
tion, but my theory is that the Australian nigger is only 
beaten by the West Indian for sheer terror of what he 
thinks is the supernatural.” 

“No one seems to know where the fall comes from,” said 
Hallett. “ They say that it’s the lake on the top of Mount 
Luya, which was once the crater of an extinct volcano, and 
has worked underground to the precipice.” 

“’Tis a big body of water,” said Captain Macpherson. 

“ You were asking if the place is a cul-de-sac. You might 
have nicked a bit out of the mountain for all the outlet 
there is. It’s a sheer precipice on each side of you, with a 
waterfall at the end of it.” 

“ I want to go there,” said Elsie. “ Mr. Hallett, remem- 
ber that you have promised to get up a picnic, and that we 
are to camp out for a night.” 


102 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“You must wait a bit then,” said Captain Macpherson. 
“ There’d be no use in ladies trying it after the rainy season. 
We got bogged the other day. I’d put it off till the spring, 
Miss Valliant.” 

“Is it a promise ? — in the spring ?” asked Elsie, turning 
with a bewitching smile to Frank. “ Come, I don’t often 
ask you anything.” 

“ Certainly, it is a promise,” he answered. 

“ I shall keep you to it. And you, Mr. Blake, you are to 
be one of the party. ” 

“ I was going to suggest that you should make the expe- 
dition from our place,” said Blake. “ It is quite ten miles 
nearer, and if we are rough. Miss Yalliant, we are at least 
picturesque.” 

“When is it spring ?” said Elsie, with pretty imperious- 
ness, turning to Hallett. “ Please soon make it spring.” 

“ I am afraid it can’t be managed before the end of Au- 
gust,” said Hallett, “and even then it would be cold for 
camping out.” 

“ The end of August then,” said Elsie. “ That is settled. 
I look to you to square Mrs. Jem. The end of August ! ” 
she repeated. “ Who knows what may have happened be- 
fore then ? ” 

Mrs. Jem had got up from the table. ^The men were 
anxious to be at the course. Outside the woolshed black 
boys in clean shirts and with new scarlet handkerchiefs 
round their waists were leading horses in side-saddles up 
and down. The gins and pickaninnies had come from the 
blacks’ camp to see the start. They made impish noises 
and screamed out admiring remarks as the mounting went on. 

“ My word, Budgery that fellow ! ” was the exclamation 
that followed Elsie. 

“ I say, Elsie,” cried a toothless, blear-eyed creature, plenti- 
fully tattooed, with a yellow bandana binding her woolly 
locks and an old pink tea-gown of Mrs. Jem’s slung across 
her shoulder, “ What for you got him new Benjamin ? 
Mine think it Frank cobbon coola* along of you.” 


* Cobbon colla — very angry. 


V 


ON THE RACE-COURSE, 103 

“ Is that true ?” said Blake. “Is Mr. Frank Hallett very 
angry with you ? Does he mind your riding my horse ? ” 

“No, why should he ?” she answered. 

“ I should mind very much if you rode his horse after 
having promised to ride mine.” 

“Is this my horse?” she asked, pointing to a beautiful 
bay, which was held not by a black boy, but by a rather 
flash looking stockman — a rakish young Australian, with a 
fair moustache, twisted on each side to a fine point, and odd 
down-looking eyes. He was a fine upstanding fellow, lean 
and muscular, and had the gait of a man horn or bred on 
horseback. It was said on the Luya that there had never 
been foaled the animal that Sam Shehan couldn’t ride. He 
had been well known in the district from a boy, and was 
supposed to have done a little cattle-duffing, as it is called, 
in his younger days, but he had reformed entirely since 
taking a place with Trant and Blake of Barolin Gorge, and 
was such a good hand with stock that the neighbouring 
squatters were always glad to get him over for a day or two 
at mustering times. 

“ Yes, this is the Outlaw,” said Blake. “ How is she this 
morning, Shehan ? ” 

“Quiet as a lamb,” said Shehan, “and fresh as a daisy. 
Miss. He’s a bit of a speeler. He’d lick the lot of ’em if he 
was put into training.” 

Elsie put her foot into Blake’s hand, and he lifted her 
into the saddle. Hallett was watching him jealously. 
Lord Horace had given Hallett charge of Inaf. He himself 
was careering about the course, and had made a rather 
heavy book upon the races. 

Behind Sam Shehan were two other Barolin hands— 
twin half-caste boys, who had come in Shehan’s train to 
Barolin, and who had also turned into reformed characters 
under Trant’s tutelage. Pompo and Jack Nutty used to 
have the reputation of being up to any kind of devilment, 
in the old days, and they, too, were magnificent horsemen, 
and invaluable at Luya musterings, because they knew 
every inch of the country. 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


lOi 

Blake mounted his own horse, which was a fiery crea- 
ture, but not the black one he had been riding on the day he 
first met Elsie. Barolin was famous for its horses, and 
Dominic Trant was no less well mounted. He had a scowl- 
ing expression on his dark face as he passed Elsie and his 
partner, but he made no attempt to join them. Elsie was 
the object of attention to a bevy of young men, but it was a 
tribute to Blake’s power that no one thought of interfering 
with him. 

In an Australian March, one may sometimes have a de- 
lightful day, with just a fresh faint foretaste of winter^ in 
the air. Sometimes, on the other hand, an Australian 
March is as muggy and disagreeable a month as can well be 
imagined. To-day it was bright and clear. There had 
been a heavy rain a few days previously, and the world 
looked as if it had been well washed. Never was sky bluer. 
There was a faint breeze stirring the tops of the gum-trees, 
and throwing a ripple on to the surface of the lagoon. The 
grass — where it had not been trodden down by the racers 
exercising — was thick and lush, and browm with its autumn 
heads. But the yellowing quinces and swelling oranges 
and the great pumpkins and squashes were the only sign of 
autumn. As they rode down by the garden fence, the en- 
closure was spring-like in its bloom. The prickly pears 
were growing faintly pink, it is true, and the passion -creeper 
hung out purple eggs, but the roses massed in quantities — 
golden Marechal Neils and pale tea-roses, fiaunting cabbage- 
roses, and dark delicate cottage beauties— a most sweet and 
gorgeous array. And there was a plant of the Taverna 
Montana in bloom, its dazzling white flowers nearly as 
large as a camellia. And the honey-suckle and stephanotis 
scented the air, and the great vermilion pomegranates were 
like blobs of sealing wax thrown at haphazard upon the green. 

It was a day to intoxicate the senses. 

“ Who says that the Australian birds have no song ? ” said 
Elsie. “ There’s a magpie gurgling away as if he meant to 
sing at a concert to-night.” 

Blake smiled at her, and she smiled back in return. She 


ON THE RACE-COURSE. 


105 


had forgotten J ensen. She had forgotten her half promise 
to Frank Hallett. She had forgotten to ask herself whether 
or not she could ever love him. She only knew that she 
was happy, and that the air was sweet, and that Blake looked 
at her in a way in which no one else had ever looked. There 
was a grassy track— once the path for water carts in primi- 
tive days, before the erection of the grand pump. 

The Outlaw bounded forward. 

“Oh, let us have one canter along here,” Elsie cried. 
“I want to try the Outlaw. One canter by the creek. 
Come, Mr. Blake.” 

She rode on, shaking the reins, and patting the animal’s 
sleek neck, as he danced and curvetted. She looked back at 
Blake, and laughed like a child. How beautiful she was, 
and how splendid she rode ! They rode on away from the 
crowd, cantering, almost galloping, always fast, fast, clearing 
the little logs and gullies in the way, all along the home 
paddock and never pulling up till they were at least two 
miles from the station. 

“ What will they think ? ” she said, reining the Outlaw. 

“ Oh, what a glorious spin ! Tell me, aren’t you happy when 
you are going fast like that ? ” 

“ Do you call that fast ? ” he said. “ Ah, you should 
know what it is to ride for one’s life.” 

“ Have you ever ridden for your life ? ” she asked, sud- 
denly becoming serious. 

“ Yes,” he answered, “ and I have enjoyed it as I have 
never enjoyed anything in the world. Oh, to feel that your 
life — your very life — all the glory and beauty of this glorious 
and beautiful world — all the past, and the present, and the 
future — ambition, hope, a Cause perhaps— all depending on 
the speed of an animal and lying in the mad rush forwards ! 
There’s a wild sense of irresponsibility about a moment like 
that- which I can’t describe — can’t give you the feeblest idea ' 
of. Your will seems to have got outside you, and to be in 
the night, and the trees, and the free birds and beasts. 
Every nerve is strung to an excitement which is rapture. 
It’s the very essence of the joy of life.” 


106 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTEE XII. 

BEELZEBUB’S COLOURS. 

The first race was over when Elsie and Blake reached 
the course. What could they have been talking about dur- 
ing that homeward ride, to make them linger so long ? She 
had a bunch of wild jasmine in her bodice, which he had 
gathered for her, and she had promised him more dances 
than she could remember. 

Lady Horace looked distressed. “ Oh, Elsie, don’t fiirt 
with that man,” she whispered to her sister, repeating the 
former frightened adjuration. “ I know that it will bring 
you harm. Don’t make poor Frank unhappy.” 

“ You seem to think a great deal more of Frank’s happi- 
ness, or unhappiness, than you do of mine, Ina,” said Elsie 
poutingly. “ It’s enough to make Horace jealous.” 

Lady Horace flushed deeply. “ Don’t say that ; don’t 
ever say that,” she exclaimed. “You have no right to say 
such a thing.” 

“Horace is jealous, is he?” exclaimed Elsie. “Well, 
that’s better at any rate than being sulky over his dinner, 
or running after that horrid Mrs. Allanby.” 

Lord Horace, however, certainly showed no signs of 
jealousy. He was in very high spirits, for he had won his 
first bet, and he had tacked himself to pretty Mrs. Allanby, 
who was delighted to have a chance of revenging herself on 
Elsie and her belongings. Blake avoided Elsie for the rest 
of the day. 

The girl wondered why, and showed that she did not 
care, by flirting extravagantly with every man who came 
near her. She gave Frank Hallett no opportunity for a 
tMe-a-tete^ and made Dominic Trant radiant by accepting 
his very pronounced attentions, with every sign of pleasure. 
It was Dominic Trant who sat next her at luncheon, and 
who mounted her again when luncheon was over. Dominic 
Trant was in high feather, for he had won two races, and 
expected to win several more. 


BEELZEBUB'S COLOURS. 


lOT 


The Luya Cup Bace, the great event of theday, came 
after luncheon. Each horse was ridden by its owner, and 
most of the near stations and of the larger selections on the 
Luya were represented in the entrances. It was supposed 
that Frank Hallett would be the winner, on Gipsy Girl, but 
a good many backed Trant. Elsie wondered whether Blake 
intended to run Osman, and to ride him. It was not till the 
last moment that she was certain. Just before the horses 
came into line he rode out on a beautiful black, which was 
certainly Osman, only that, equally certain, Osman had no 
white star on his forehead. She remembered this distinctly. 
Blake looked very well in his crimson and black colours. 
He seemed a part of the horse, and the fiery creature an- 
swered to his touch as though there were a complete sym- 
pathy between them. 

The race was an exciting one. Frank Hallett took the 
lead with Gipsy Girl, but half way round Dominic Trant 
passed him, Blake followed close. The others were in a 
bunch, Lord Horace keeping up pretty well, but gradually 
slackening, and one or two very soon giving up altogether. 
Again Gipsy Girl got the lead. It was evident that Trant’s 
horse was fiagging, and that Blake was holding in. But a 
quarter of a mile from the winning post, the black shot for- 
ward. For a little way he and Gipsy Girl were neck and 
neck. The pace was tremendous. Both men were bowed 
almost to the horses’ necks. Gipsy Girl’s sides were stream- 
ing, where Hallett had dug in his spurs. The black was 
scarcely blown. Close to the post he darted ahead, and 
Blake came in an easy winner. 

There was a great deal of talk about the horse, which 
Elsie saw had been entered as Osman. As soon as the 
weighing and examination were over, his cloth was thrown 
on again, and Sam Shehan led him away from the course. 

It was said that he had been stabled the night before in 
an old shepherd’s hut across the river, and that Sam Shehan 
was so frightened of his being tampered with, that he and 
the half-castes had sat up all night to watch him. 

When Blake came to the enclosure, where the Tunimba 
8 


108 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


ladies had mostly stationed themselves, Elsie congratulated 
him very sweetly. 

“ I feel a particular and personal interest in Osman,” she 
said, ‘‘ since it was through him that I first made your ac- 
quaintance. But I have been so puzzled. I felt certain that 
he had no white mark on his forehead. I remember think- 
ing that he looked quite uncanny in his blackness.” 

‘‘You must have forgotten,” said Blake quietly, and 
presently left her to go and talk to Mrs. Jem Hallett. 

“ I seem fated to receive your condolences on Mr. Blake’s 
victories,” said Frank Hallett. “ He is always the trium- 
phant hero.” 

He laughed as he spoke, but there was a shade of hitter 
ness in his tone. 

Elsie wore black and crimson that night. Lady Horace 
declared that people would think she did so on purpose, as a 
tribute to Blake, the winner, and tried to persuade her to put 
on an old white gown instead. But Elsie would not. “I 
did not know that they were Mr. Blake’s colours,” she an- 
swered. “ And let people think what they like.” 

Dinner to-night was ?n a tent in the courtyard, for 
the dance was to be a more important affair than on the 
previous evening, and the woolshed was being prepared as 
a ballroom. Frank Hallett was very busy, when the ladies 
came out into the verandah, superintending the placing of 
Chinese lanterns, which were hung upon the hunya trees, 
and marked the way to the woolshed. Frank came up to 
Elsie. “ Will you do something to please my mother ? 
Will you let her see you in your hall dress ? You know 
she never appears at this sort of thing.” 

“ Of course I will, and I will come at once, or after dinner 
— whichever she likes best.” 

“ Then will you come now ? For the dear old lady goes 
to bed at nine o’clock, and we shall not have got over the 
speeches by then.” 

Elsie and he went out at the garden gate, and walked to 
old Mrs. Hallett’s cottage, wdiich was on the brow of the 
hill, overlooking the lagoon, not a stone’s throw from the 


BEELZEBUB'S COLOURS. 


109 


house. The old lady was in very feeble health, and lived 
the most retired life possible. She very rarely came to the 
big house, but Frank, who was devoted to his mother, spent 
the greater part of his evenings with her, and always 
lunched at the cottage when he was not out on the run. 
People watched them as they went across, and Elsie won- 
dered what Blake would think, for she knew it would be 
said that this was a visit of an affianced pair. The thought 
made her cheeks burn, but gave her at the same time a little 
thrill of triumph, for she knew that Lady Garfit would be 
annoyed. 

Mrs. Hallett was sitting in her verandah, looking at the 
sunset, which was gorgeous over Mount Luya, and watch- 
ing the stir and bustle at the Head Station. She was a hand- 
some old woman, with hard features and snow-white hair. 
She had a vacant smile, which contrasted oddly with her 
otherwise severe face. Her brain was weakened a little, and 
it was for this reason that she did not mix much with the 
world ; moreover she was not fond of Mrs. Jem. 

She stroked Elsie’s dress, and looked at her with her blank 
smile, which was pathetic in its vacuity. 

“ You’re a bonny creature,” she said. “ It’s a pity you’re 
so frivolous. I believe your sister is worth two of you.” 

“ Mother ! ” exclaimed Prank. 

“ But you’re quite right, Mrs. Hallett,” said Elsie. “ Ina 
is worth a hundred of me.” 

“ It’s a pity you let her marry that fliberty-gibbet of a 
lord,” said Mrs. Hallett, “ but you’ve been badly brought up, 
and that’s what I’m always telling Frank. I remember your 
mother quite well, when your father was alive, and scab in- 
spector on the Luya. She was a pretty woman too, and 
you’re like her; but she hadn’t a great deal of sense, and I 
think you take after her.” 

“Eeally, Mrs. Hallett, I think it is very unkind of you 
to bring me here to scold me, and abuse my mother,” said 
Elsie with a laugh. “ But now, won’t you forgive me, and 
wish me a merry evening ? See, I’ve brought you a rose.” 

The girl knelt down, and tendered her little offering with 


110 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


a bewitching humility, that made Frank Hallett adore her. 
“The old lady doesn’t mean a word of it,” he said, “and 
you’re an angel. Miss Valliant.” 

“ There are two kinds of angels,” said Mrs. Hallett, “ and 
you’re in Beelzebub’s colours, my dear. But you look lovely 
all the same, and I don’t wonder that all the men are run- 
ning after you. That’s what Lady Garfit tells me.” 

“ Oh, so the Garfits have been here to see you,’’ said Elsie 
piqued. “Well, Rose Garfit is a practical and a substantial 
angel, and she ought to be just what you like.” 

“ So she is. I like her better ‘than you, but then Frank 
doesn’t, my love, and that’s the mischief. Lady Garfit says 
you’re a flirt, and that you are getting yourself talked about 
with those Barolin men. Now just come here, and stoop 
down close. I want to see something.” 

Elsie did as sho told her. The old lady solemnly wiped 
her spectacles, and took out her handkerchief, and rubbed 
Elsie’s rose-pink cheek. 

“Lady Garfit says you’re rouged.” 

“But you see that I’m not.” 

“There’s no telling. Rose Garfit — no, it was Minnie 
Pryde, or Mrs. Jem said it — some of your Leichardt’s Town 
girls crush up geranium leaves, and rub your cheeks with 
them, and it doesn’t come off on the handkerchief.” 

“ I’ll go,” cried Elsie rising. “ And if I do rouge, and if I 
flirt, Mrs. Hallett, and if I’m horrid altogether, you’re well 
rid of me. And I’m going back to Leichardt’s Towm very 
soon, and you won’t see me till the spring, when we are all 
coming up to picnic at Barolin Falls, and perhaps by then 
you’ll have forgiven me.” 

She kissed her hand and bounded off the verandah, pull- 
ing her cloak over her head. Frank followed, but he was 
detained for a few moments by his mother. Blake was wait- 
ing at the entrance of the tent, having the start, and took 
Elsie into dinner, and Frank was vexed with his mother. 

It was a long repast, made longer by the speeches. The 
health of Mr. and Mrs. Jem was drunk, and an appropriate 
speech was made by the oldest resident on the Luya, calling 


BEELZEBUB'S COLOURS. 


Ill 


attention to the auspicious occasion, and wishing them a sil- 
ver and a golden wedding. And there were many more 
toasts, and among them the health of Osman, winner of the 
Luya Cup; and the cup was filled with champagne, and 
handed from each to each, Blake himself drinking after 
Elsie’s lips had touched the goblet. 

“ I drink to our first meeting,” said he in a low tone, audi- 
ble only to her. 

The lanterns were all alight when they left the tent, and 
the musicians had already struck up in the woolshed. It 
was a curious and fairy-like scene, the array of coloured 
lamps, the solemn bunyas in the dimness of night, and in 
their density of foliage, almost like pyramids of green mar- 
ble, the leaden lagoon reflecting the pale stars above and the 
red fires of the camp below, the shadowy expanse of plain, 
and the darker patches of scrub and bush, with the rugged 
mountain beyond — Luya— and the two needles of the Bur- 
rum, against the deep mysterious sky, dotted with its myri- 
ads of stars, and showing all the beautiful southern constel- 
lations. The moon had not risen yet, but its appearance 
could hardly add any greater glory to the night. Blake got 
Elsie a programme, and wrote his initials against various 
waltzes. Frank Hallett watched him doing this with envy 
and jealousy tearing at his heart. He was an outsider, one 
among the crowd of men who waited, as she stood on the 
steps of the woolshed, to ask her for a dance. 

“ Please let me pass,” said Lady Garfit sourly, as she con- 
voyed her daughter. “Mr. Frank Hallett, I am sure you 
will give your arm to Rose. Miss Valliant’s would-be part- 
ners make quite a block in the gangway.” 

There was a general clearance. 

“I beg your pai’don,” said Elsie innocently. “But you 
know, I can’t help people asking me to dance, can I ? ” 

Lady Garfit did not vouchsafe a reply. 

“You must feel like a queen holding a court,” said Trant, 
who had pushefi his way close to her. 

“ Oh ! ” she exclaimed, “ Lady Garfit makes me feel like 
a beggar maid dressed up. No, Mr. Trant, you mustn’t put 


112 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKKR. 


your name down so many times. Only once, please. I 
have promised to keep some for Mr. Frank Hallett.” 

Trant’s eyes flamed. He left her sulkily. When the time 
came for his dance, he did not appear to claim it, and Elsie 
danced it with Blake. Nor did he come to make apologies. 
Elsie would have been offended if she had not noticed that 
his eyes glowered upon her whenever she turned hers to- 
wards him, and his anger, she felt, was a tribute to her 
power. 

Just then, however, when Frank returned, he was made 
almost happy by the radiant smile with which Elsie showed 
him the blanks. 

Oh yes, it was a triumphant evening for vain Elsie. 
She was the belle of the room. Eose Garflt was nowhere, 
and Mrs. Allanby quite out in the cold. 

The sense of conquest was intoxicating. All the men 
present whom she considered worth captivating she had 
reduced to abject subjection. Never in her life had she so 
thoroughly enjoyed herself. Perhaps the enjoyment was 
all the more intense because there mingled with her tri- 
umph and elation a strange sense of dread, a certain vague 
pain and expectancy which gave a keener edge to life, and 
might have been the thrill of a new sense. And it was 
true. There were aw^akening in her sensations she had 
never known. It was as if she had taken a plunge into 
new deep waters, when all her life she had been floating 
on as hallow sunlit stream. 


CHAPTER XHI. 

“hearts not in it.” 

The greater number of the guests left on the morrow. 
The Horace Gages, and Elsie, as well as the Barolin gentle- 
men, the Garflts, and one or tw^o of the Leichardt’s Towm 
people had been asked to stay a day^ longer, to join a riding 


HEARTS NOT IN IT: 


113 


party, which Frank Hallett had organized, to a picturesque 
gorge up the Luya. Hallett had done *this partly to com- 
pensate Elsie for her disappointment in the matter of the 
picnic, and also because she had promised to ride Gipsy 
Girl, and he thought that he should thus have a chance of 
riding with her. He was a little disconcerted when Blake 
suggested to Mrs. Jem that since Point Row was not far 
from his place, Barolin Gorge, they should ride over in the 
morning, have luncheon with Trant and himself, in their 
bachelor domicile, and take Point Row on their way home- 
ward— or go to Point Row first, dine at the Gorge, and ride 
back the ten miles by moonlight. 

It was the first plan which was decided upon. Before 
twelve o’clock the outsiders had all departed, and the re- 
maining guests were on their way to Barolin. Trant had 
started at daybreak, to make preparations for their recep- 
tion. 

Pompo, the half-caste, remained to drive the pack-horse, 
and, as he expressed it, “make him road budgery.” Pompo 
was an elfish creature devoted to his master Blake, and cuid- 
ously attracted to Elsie, perhaps because he saw that Blake 
was attracted in a greater and different degree. Pompo 
did not like Elsie’s riding Gipsy Girl, and pointing to the 
Outlaw, with an air of reproach, asked, “ What for you no 
like it yarraman, belonging to Blake.” 

“ But I like your master’s horse very much, Pompo,” said 
Elsie, sweetly. “ Only, you see, I rode it instead of Mr. 
Hallett’s the other day, and it wouldn’t be fair to ride it 
again.” 

Pompo did not fully enter into this reasoning, and he 
made Prank Hallett cross by coming perpetually to examine 
Elsie’s girths, or to ask her if she wanted him to “ make him 
road budgery.” He rode ahead with a tomahawk slung 
over his shoulders, and would stop every now and then to 
cut away some overhanging vine, or to remove a piece of 
driftwood which the February floods had brought down. 
The impish creature’s bead-like eyes continually turned to 
Elsie in a half-amused inquiring way, while he acted as 


114 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


guide, and did the honours of the road to Barolin Gorge, 
which was certainly rough enough for a guide to be neces- 
sary. 

It ran along the river bank — a track in places barely 
distinguishable from the cattle-tracks, which sloped side- 
ways to the water, with here and there stony pinches and 
steep gulleys, almost hidden by the rank blady grass. 

Now it ran through a patch of scrub or among glossy 
chestnut trees with their red and orange blossoms, or between 
white cedars on which the berry sprays were already yel- 
lowing. When the scrub ended, there were melancholy 
she-oaks, and every now and then a shrub of the lemon- 
scented gum, which Elsie would snatch at as they passed 
and crush between her fingers, for the sake of the curious 
aromatic perfume it gave forth. There was something 
strange and dreamy in this ride along the bank of the Luya 
— here scarcely to be called a river, a ride so wild that for 
the most part they had to go in single file. It all harmo- 
nized with the phase of mental exaltation which had come 
over Elsie during the last few days. Anything might hap- 
pen in this enchanted forest. 

In places the creek would make a bend, winding round a 
little fiat, and then there would be a quick canter, with a 
warning from Pompo to look out for paddy-melon holes. 
And then they would mount a stony ridge, with weird-look- 
ing grass trees, lifting their blackened spears, and gray-green 
wattles, and unhealthy gums, and sparse blady grass. And 
then, perhaps they would get away from the river for a lit- 
tle way, and the gum trees would close in around them, and 
the whirring of the locusts would be almost deafening, and 
the dreaminess more intense. Elsie would almost call out 
in terror as an iguana scuttled up a gum tree, or a herd of 
kangaroo made a dash across the track. Once they had an 
exciting spin after an “ old-man ” kangaroo with all the dogs 
in full cry, but he escaped them, for the river had twisted 
round again, and they were in scrub once more. And here 
were deep rippleless pools surrounded by beds of poisonous 
arums, with the wrack of the flood-mark clinging to their 


HEARTS NOT IN IT' 


115 


pulpy stems, and horrid water snakes showed themselves 
from under decaying logs, and the fallen chestnut pods had 
rotted, and there was a moist fetid feeling that Elsie said 
reminded her of Hans Andersen’s witch stories. 

They seemed to be going right up into the mountains, 
which began to close in round them, all the seams and fis- 
sures in the precipices showing distinctly. Presently at its 
narrowest part the valley opened out in a chain of flats, and 
Frank pointed to a gully cutting down into the neck and 
said, “ That's our show lion — Point Row — what we are com- 
ing out for to see. We shall stop there for tea, and then, if 
you don’t mind a climb, we’ll get down the rocks on the 
other side, and the black boys shall take the horses round to 
meet us, and we can come home by the Dead Finish Flats, 
and have a moonlight gallop, if you like.” 

“It would be heavenly,” said Elsie. “Look! Isn’t that 
Mr. Trant coming across the flat ? ” 

It was Trant, who, mounted on a fresh horse, had ridden 
out to meet them. 

“ You can canter all the way now to the Gorge,” he cried. 
“Come, Miss Valliant, luncheon is waiting.” 

He contrived to get beside Elsie. “ I expected to see you 
riding with Blake,” he said, “ but it’s a bad road, isn’t it, for 
flirtation ? ” 

“ Why do you always drag in that horrible word ? ” 

“ Is it a horrible word ? I thought it was one you were 
particularly fond of. You won’t pretend that you haven’t 
been flirting outrageously this last day or two. I hope you 
observed that I haven’t given you much chance to-day of 
flirting with me.” 

“I wondered why you had gone away so early this 
morning.” 

“ In order that you might have something to eat for 
luncheon. No, it wasn’t that. Blake said he’d go. Or a 
message by Sam Shehan would have done as well. The 
truth is that you’re beginning to make me uncomfortable, 
and I don’t like it.” 

“ I thought it was you who generally made people un- 


116 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


comfortable — at least you told me that you could make them 
afraid of you.’’ 

“ I told you that I could generally make a woman like 
me if I wanted to.” 

‘‘ You said that you made them afraid of you as well. I 
suppose it’s the same thing.” 

‘‘ I shouldn’t say it was the same night at all.” 

“Well, I should think it would be very uncomfort- 
able to be made to like a man you were afraid of,” said 
Elsie. 

“ I don’t intend to let you make me uncomfortable. Miss 
Valliant.” 

“ I am very glad to hear that, Mr. Trant.” 

“ Perhaps you won’t like it so much when I tell you that 
the alternative is that you should be afraid of me.” 

“ I don’t feel in the least bit afraid of you now. I don’t 
know what there is to be afraid of.” 

“Don’t you? Well, perhaps some day you may find 
out. If 1 set my mind on a thing I always carry it 
through.” 

“ Really, Mr. Trant, you are quite melodramatic. When 
you talk like that, and when you sing as you did the other 
night, you make me sorry ” 

“ Sorry for what ? ” 

“ That you ignore your engagements with me in the 
very rude way in which you ignored them last night.” 

“ I suppose you mean my not coming to claim my 
dance.” 

“Naturally.” 

“I didn’t choose to be thrown a dance as you mig^it 
throw a dog a bone, when you were sitting out half a dozen 
apiece with Blake and Hallett. I wanted you to sit out with 
me. And besides you wouldn’t take my warning.” 

“I didn’t know that you warned me against Mr. Hal- 
lett.” 

“ No, but I warned you against Blake. It made me mad 
to hear people talking about you and him — knowing him as 
I do, and knowing very well that it was only because you 


HEARTS NOT IN ITT 


117 * 


were the prettiest woman in the room, and because Frank 
Hallett is said to he engaged to you, and he didn’t choose 
that anybody should beat him— more especially Frank Hal- 
lett.” 

‘‘ Do you think it is very nice of you to talk about your 
partner behind his back in that way ? ” 

“ It is only what I have said to his face, and you are 
quite at liberty to repeat every word. Blake knows it is 
true. But I’ve put myself in your power in another way.” 

“How?” 

“ By letting you see that I am jealous.” 

“ Now, Miss Valliant, this is good going ground.” Blake 
had cantered up and reined in his horse for a moment. 

Elsie touched Gipsy Girl with the whip. Blake rode 
the Outlaw. They were soon striding on in advance of the 
others. “ So Trant is jealous ! Poor Trant ! You must be 
nice to him, Miss Valliant. He is a very good fellow in his 
way — Trant. ” 

Elsie was struck by the cool, half-contemptuous tone in 
which he spoke. ‘‘ Is Mr. Trant very much your inferior ? ” 
she asked. 

“ Good gracious ! Inferior ! In what way ? ” 

“ In birth and position, I suppose. You speak as if he 
were.” 

“ I am sorry I gave you that impression. Trant is — well, 
perhaps his ancestors tilled the soil when mine rode over it. 
I don’t know that that makes much difference.” 

“ You said once that you came of a wild race.” 

He laughed. “ Ah, that’s true, and I think I’ve done my 
best to carry on the family traditions. I’ve been wild 
enough, too, at times.” 

Elsie was silent for a minute. At last she began impul- 
sively and stopped. 

“ I wonder ” 

“ What is it that you wonder ? ” 

He bent down from his saddle, and looked at her with 
that curiously sweet smile which he had. 

“ I was wondering, Mr. Blake, that you, who I suppose 


118 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


belong to some great old family, and who have lived in 
Europe, and care so much for excitement and — and all that 
you have talked to me about ” 

“ Well ? ” 

“ That you can be content to live in the bush, and in such 
a quiet place as Barolin Gorge.” 

“ But I don’t live in Barolin Gorge. At least I haven’t 
lived there much as yet. And then you forget that I am 
gomg in for the maddening excitement of the Australian 
political arena. What more could I have ? ” • _ 

“ I should have thought you could have had much more 
in Europe, and that at least you would have had the society 
of people you cared about.” 

“ I have society that I care about in Australia.” 

“ How long is it since you left England, Mr. Blake ? ” 

He seemed to be tliinking, “ It is about l;welve years 
since I left Ireland.” 

“ Ireland— yes, I forgot. Ho you care very much for 
your country ? ” 

“ I sucked in patriotism with my mother's milk. It was 
born in me with many other things that I should be better 
without.” 

“Better?” 

“Happier, at any rate.” 

“But you— you ought to be happy,” said Elsie, falter- 
ingly. 

He looked at her lingeringly. Her eyes were turned 
away. She was sitting very erect. Her profile was towards 
him. There was a lovely glow on her delicate cheeks, a 
still more beautiful glow in her eyes, and her lips were 
sweet and tremulous. 

“ Yes, I ought to be happy,’’ he repeated, “ and especially 
at this moment. Well, I am happy. Miss Valliant. Or it 
would be truer to say that the one man in me is happy.” 

“ I don’t understand.” 

“ Don’t you know,” he said, “ that in most of us there are 
two beings ? Sometimes the one is kept so utterly in subjec- 
tion by the other that you hardly know it is there. But in 


HEARTS NOT IN IT: 


119 


some people the two natures are both so strong that life is 
always a battle. It’s the Celt in me that gives me no 
peace.” 

“ I don’t understand,” she said again. 

He laughed. “No, I don’t suppose you do. For your 
own sake I hope not. And yet sometimes T fancy that 
you’ve got a little bit of the same nature in you, and that, to 
a very faint extent, we are companions in misfortune.” 

“ Misfortune ! ” 

“ Isn’t it a misfortune to have the rebel taint ? You 
couldn’t bind yourself down to the sort of life which would 
content that very estimable young lady Miss Grarfit.” 

“ No.” 

“Nor could I lead the calm decorous existence of — shall 
I say Mr. Frank Hallett ? an existence made up of going 
out on the run, managing a model station, observing all the 
social, dome’fetic, and religious obligations, amassing an 
honourable fortune by strict attention to business and by 
prudent investment, loving one woman and cleaving to her. 
No, I do the Celt injustice there. His morals are his 
strongest point — my grandmother was French. Miss Val- 
diant, have I offended you ? ” 

“Yes.” Elsie had turned to him bright dilated eyes. 
“ I will not have you speak in that sneering way of Frank 
Hallett.” 

“ Forgive me, I did not mean to sneer. And I ought to 
have remembered what I was told last night.” 

“ What was that ? ” 

“ That he is to be your husband.” 

Elsie rode on with flaming cheeks, distancing the Outlaw 
by a few paces. They were a long way in advance of the 
others. In the distance was to be seen a cluster of buildings 
standing back against a hill, which was covered with dense 
scrub. A little to the right rose Mount Luya, a majestic ob- 
ject, with its encircling precipiced battlement of grey rock, 
making it look like some Titanic fortress. Its strange rents 
and Assures and the black bunya scrub clothing its lower 
slopes made it seem still more grim and gloomy. 


120 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ I don’t wonder that the blacks think that Debil-dehil 
lives on Mount Luya,” said Elsie. 

“ Do you see that dark ravine, with the two spurs of 
rock going down from the precipice — just as if a thick 
wedge had been cut out of the mountain ? ” asked Blake. 
“ Do you think it will be very easy to reach Barolin Water ^ 
fall ? 

“ Is that Barolin Waterfall ? ” 

“ Yes, the dread abode of the great Spirit Barolin. Cap- 
tain Macpherson may ‘ blow,’ as you say in Australia, but I 
am certain that he and his merry men never got beyond the 
foot of those rocky spurs. There’s a pretty ^little cascade 
there, but it is not the real Barolin Fall. That will not be 
the scene of your spring picnic. Miss Valliant, unless you 
are prepared to force your way on foot through scrub as 
impenetrable as an Indian jungle,” 

“ How do you know all this, Mr. Blake ? I thought you 
were almost a stranger on the Luya.” 

“ Trant has told me, and he has heard it from Sam Shehan, 
and Pompo, and Jack Nutty, who, in the days of their 
nefarious practices, probably ‘ nuggetted ’ a good many of 
Mr. Hallett’s ' calves up here on the Luya, and know every 
inch of country practicable for that purpose. Here we are 
at the sliprails, Miss Valliant. I am glad we have reached 
them before the others, and that I am the one to let them 
down for you.” 

He dismounted and waited at the sliprails till she had 
ridden through. Then before mounting again he came to 
Gipsy Girl’s side and held out his hand, “Welcome to 
Barolin.” 

She put her hand in his. Their eyes met. In her look there 
was a troubled consciousness. In his there was conscious- 
ness too, but it was nevertheless a bold and masterful gaze. 

“Will you forgive me,” he said, “and believe that I 
meant no disrespect to Mr. Frank Hallett ? I admire him 
immensely. He is a good fighter and a gallant foe. I got 
to like him ever so much during the election, and I hope 
you will be happy with him.” 


HEARTS EOT IN ITJ 


121 


Elsie did not answer. He released lier hand. There had 
been something very strange, she thought, in his clasp. It 
had given her an odd tingling sensation, which no other 
touch had ever produced. She wondered whether there was 
any truth in the idea that some people were magnetic. He 
looked at her all the time. He went on : 

“ Yes, I admire Frank Hallett. I don’t believe he would 
do a dishonourable thing to save his life. He has all the 
sterling virtues. But he is — you must own it — he is some- 
thing of the Philistine, and I am a Bohemian rebel to the 
very core of me, and can’t be expected to feel that deep 
sympathy with his views of life which perhaps you feel, 
Miss Valliant.” 

“ I think,” she said slowly, “ that I have a little of the 
Bohemian in me, too.” 

He laughed. ‘‘ Oh, yes, I know that. Didn’t I tell you 
that we were something akin ? Well, I wonder if you will 
be as generous a foe as Mr. Frank Hallett.” 

“ As generous a foe ! ” she repeated, startled. 

“We are fighting, aren’t we ? Don’t you remember that 
- challenge of the other night ? I accepted it. Don’t you 
recollect our talk that evening — before I told you of my 
friendship with Jensen ? I beg your pardon for alluding 
again to what you said was disagreeable.” 

“ I understand,” she said coldly ; “ you want to avenge 
Mr. Jensen’s wrongs. That is what you were thinking 
of.” 

“ I beg your pardon,” he said. “ It wasn’t to be a case of 
avenging anyone or anything — nothing so melodramatic. 
It was to be a trial of skill, a tournament between a young 
lady, who frankly owned that she had played with a man's 
heart — and who had ruined his life— for an experiment, and 
another person who confessed to having played justly or 
unjustly for amusement at the game of flirtation. That’s 
all. There is nothing melodramatic about it. And it was 
understood that hearts were not in the business.” 

' “ Mr. Blake, you are cruel — you have no right — it is un- 
fair.” 


122 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“If you think a moment,” he said, gently, “ you will see 
that it is all fair— a challenge given — to a tournament— on 
certain lines — given and seriously taken up. I suppose the 
laws of knightly warfare hardly apply to a lady, and that 
your word must be my law, but still you will admit that to 

draw hack would seem ” 

“ Well?” 

“ Forgive me, but wouldn’t it seem a little like a confes- 
sion of cowardice ? ” 

Elsie hushed, and her eyes gleamed ; and a spirit of reck- 
lessness took possession of her. “Very well; whatever I 
am, I am not a coward, and I am not in the least afraid of 
you, Mr. Blake.” 

He bowed. “ That I can perfectly understand. It is I 
who have cause to be afraid.” 

“Why shouldn’t we play the game, since it amuses 
you and it amuses me — since it is a case of hearts not in 
it?” 

“ Why not indeed ? ” he answered. “ It seems to me that 
one of the objects of living at all is that one may cram as 
many experiences as one can into the few years in which 
experience can be enjoyed. You are fond of drama. Miss 
Valliant, so am I. You don’t get the sort of drama we 
should enjoy (on the Australian stage it is too crude — too 
much of the blood and thunder, ‘ Unhand me, villain ’ senti- 
ment) — not complex enough for people who by right of 
nature belong to an advanced civilization. We don’t get an 
advanced civilization out here, do we ? and so we must make 
our own drama. I am quite certain that one in which you 
played the principal part would be bound to be exciting.” 

Thank you.” 

“ And then,” he went on, “ you like making experiments 
in human chemistry, and so do I. You remember that book 
you were reading the day we first met. Experiments in a 
laboratory are sometimes dangerous. Experiments in hu- 
man chemistry may be much more dangerous. But I never 
really cared for anything in which there was no danger. I 
perfectly realize the danger in this case. . . . Here come 


ARE WE ENEMIES? 


123 


the rest. I think I may leave the putting up of the slip- 
rails to Trant.” He mounted again, and they rode together 
up to the house. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

“ ARE WE ENEMIES ? ” 

Barolin "was only a bachelors’ house, and a bachelors’ 
house of the roughest kind, as Trant and Blake impressed 
upon their guests. But there were things in it which one 
does not usually find in a bachelor’s dwelling in the bush— 
notably a piano, which Lord Horace insisted on trying, 
while they were waiting for luncheon, and which he pro- 
nounced to be one of the best cottage pianos he had ever 
played on. Trant sang at Elsie’s request — one of his pas- 
sionate love-songs, which produced a sort of refiex emotion 
in several of the persons present — excepting perhaps Miss 
Garfit, who remarked that it was sweet ; Miss Garfit had a 
trick of saying that things were “ sweet,” and the epithet 
was not quite in keeping with her robust personality. Then 
there were various odds and ends which betokened a more 
refined taste than one discovers as a rule among lone squat- 
ters — some fine bits of Eastern embroidery, a silver perfume 
sprinkler, two or three jewelled daggers, and so forth, which 
Lord Horace pounced upon. 

These are Algerian,” he said. “ My sister has got a lot 
of ’em. Fancy finding Algerian embroideries in an Austra- 
lian hut ! ” 

I am sure,” said Miss Garfit, “ this is far too sweet a 
place to be called a hut. Have you really been in Algiers, 
Mr. Blake ? ” 

Blake laughed. “ Ask Trant. He was in a regiment of 
Irregulars. That’s how he learned to speak French so 
well.” 

“ And you ? ” said Elsie. “Was that where you learned 
to speak French ? ” 

9 


12i 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ As I have told you, my grandmother was a French- 
woman, Miss Valliant. But I have knocked about among 
the Arabs a good deal, and I learned to speak ” 

There was a sudden crash. Trant had jumped up hastily 
and had overturned a chair. Blake’s sentence remained un- 
finished. 

“By Jove, you’ve got some nice firearms here,” said 
Lord Horace, who had been examining a rack of guns and 
pistols over the chimney-piece. “ These are stunners — all the 
latest improvements. I see you are prepared for Moonlight.” 

Was it Elsie’s fancy, that as Frank Hallett and the other 
men came up to examine the weapons, a sudden glance was 
interchanged by the partners ? Anyhow she thought that 
Blake rather hastily interposed. “ Never mind those. Lord 
Horace, I am sure luncheon is ready. Come — Trant, will 
you bring Miss Valliant ? Lord Horace, please show Miss 
Gai’fit the way.” 

He offered his arm to Ina, and Elsie accepted that of 
Trant. Luncheon was not quite ready, hut the delay afforded 
opportunity for admiring the view from the verandah of the 
dining room, which looked out on Mount Luya. Trant was 
full of apologies for his bachelor housekeeping, which, how- 
ever, were unnecessary, for the meal was excellently served, 
and he was much complimented by Mrs, Jem Hallett, who 
considered herself an authority in such matters, and who 
made a mental memorandum that she would always in 
future give her guests coffee after luncheon. 

It was mid-afternoon before the coffee had been drunk, 
they were again mounted, and on their way back to Point 
Row. Frank Hallett got beside Elsie at the stai’t, and Blake 
Was fain to content himself with Lady Horace. Ina did not 
care much for Blake, hut she made herself as agreeable as 
she could, because she wanted to keep him from Elsie. Lady 
Horace was beginning to be a little frightened of Blake’s in-^ 
fluence over Elsie. 

Hallett was not quite himself, or was it that Elsie was 
disturbed and preoccupied ? “ Have you enjoyed your 

day ? ” he asked. 


^^ARE WE ENEMIES 125 

It is not finished yet. Call no man happy till he is 
dead, you know.” 

He laughed, and then said with some embarrassment, 
“ You and Blake seemed to be talking very earnestly when 
you were waiting by the sliprails.” 

“ Were we ? I forget.” 

“ He was holding your hand.” 

“You have very keen eyes, Mr. Hallett.” 

“ But he was holding your hand ? ” 

“Yes, then he was.” 

“ That was odd, wasn’t it ? ” 

“ It isn’t at all odd when a person holds out his hand and 
asks you to forgive him. You naturally take it.” 

“Oh! he asked you to forgive him! Had he ofiPended 
you?” 

“Yes.” 

“ By something he said ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“I wish I knew what he had said.” ' 

“How inquisitive you are. Well, it was about you,” 
said Elsie. 

“About me ?” 

“ He spoke of you in a way I didn’t like.” 

“Indeed ! . I don’t mind in the least what Mr. Blake 
says about me.” 

“Your tone shows that you do. He spoke very nicely 
of you. He said you were a generous foe, and that he 
admired and respected you.” 

“That was very kind of him. Did you object to his 
praising me ? ” 

“I objected to his calling you a Philistine.” 

“Oh! now I understand. Thank you, Elsie.” His whole 
face beamed. “You are loyal.” 

“ Am I ? I am afraid not. Don’t be a Philistine, Frank. 
I don’t like Philistines.” 

They were able to canter almost all the way to the turn- 
ing off to Point Row. At the bend where the Point Row 
gulley fell into the Luya a great rock bulged out into the 


126 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


stream. It was covered with a wonderful growth of ferns, 
birds’ nests, and staghorn with branching antler-like fronds, 
which so fascinated Elsie that she wanted to get off her 
horse and clamber up the boulder to gather them. But 
Pompo stepped gallantly forward. “Ba’al!” he cried. 

“ White Mary plenty gammon. Suppose white missus go u^) 
that fellow rock she tumble and break her neck. Then 
mine dig him hole to put her in.” 

The creature swung himself up, grinning all the time, 
and presently came back with an armful, which he slung on 
to his saddle. They went very slowly now. Pompo first, 
with the packhorse, all the rest following in single file. 
The hills closed in on either side, and the gulley was in 
deep shade. There was a little wind, and the she-oaks by 
the creeklet made a melancholy sighing. The stream ran 
over a pebbly bed with big boulders here and there, break- 
ing its course and damming it into a deep black pool. In 
some places the pool was covered with a strange iridescent 
film. Now a rocky wall rose ahead. The gulley made a 
bend, and the creeklet wound between two fantastically- - 
shaped ridges of grey rock. It was impossible to ride fur- 
ther, and they all dismounted, Pompo unsaddling the pack- 
horse and carrying the saddlebags with the tea things down 
through the rocky heads, whence he led the way into what 
seemed the heart of the hills, while Jack Nutty, the other 
half-caste twin, and two black boys drove the horses back 
and round the ridge to meet the picnickers on the other side 
of the gorge. 

The ladies tucked up their habits, and each with her 
attendant swain picked her way over the rocks, and across 
the stepping-stones, and through the tangle of fern and 
creeper, which choked the entrance to the ravine. It was 
rough walking. The ravine was a rocky trough. On each 
side rose a wall of grey volcanic stone hollowed in places at 
the base, and making tiny caves rich in maiden-hair fern. 
It was broken in others and overgrown with the red ken- 
nedia and the fleshy wax plant, and had tufts of orchids, 
creeping jasmine and tiny shrubs, with blue-green leaves 


^^ARE WE ENEMIES? 


127 


that gave out a stroug aromatic scent. The creeklet was 
here a chain of dark clear pools, the last hemmed in all 
round by rock, black and looking unfathomable. A sort of 
natural stair led to a higher plateau, and it was here that 
Pompo had laid the saddlebags and was building up a fire 
of brushwood for the making of the quart-pot tea. 

The still place echoed with talk and laughter, and the 
sacred rock wallabies darted out of their holes, and made 
for the higher'level and for the impenetrable scrub. Some 
of the party climbed above the plateau, and from here the 
sun could be seen, a golden flame, through the trees. Among 
these adventurous ones were Blake and Elsie. Frank, in 
his capacity of host, remained below with Mrs. Jem, and 
lifted off the quart pot and sugared and cooled the tea. 
Eose Garfit held one pint pot and he another, and back- 
w^ards and forwards they poured the smoking beverage. 
Elsie did not care for quart-pot tea; she said that she liked 
the spring water better, and that she wanted to see if there 
were any late mulgams. Blake was of her opinion, and the 
two did find some untimely berries. They had climbed 
some fifty feet. Up here the hoya grew luxuriantly, and 
there were clusters of the waxen flowers sweet as honey, 
which Elsie gathered, and with which she pelted those below. 

“Elsie, Elsie,” Ina cried; “come down; you’ll be losing 
yourselves up there, and we shall never get to the horses, 
and Mr. Hallett says the place is full of snakes.” 

But Elsie only laughed. 

“ Why should I climb down to climb up again ? We’ve 
got to get over the ridge before we find the horses. Mr. 
Blake will look after the snakes. You are to take care of 
me and show me the way,” she added demurely, to Blake, 
“ though we have agreed to he enemies.” 

“ Are we enemies ? ” he said in an odd dreamy way. 
“ Let us suspend hostilities then for a little while. No, I 
don’t think we be enemies.” 

Elsie turned from the precipice, and moved about among 
the shrubs and plants, gathering a flower here and there. 
There were many that she had never seen before, peculiar 


128 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


to these mountain places, and she gathered them and 
brought them to Blake with all the interest of a child. 
There were trees with a glossy green leaf and bright 
orange seed pods, and there was another plant with a cone 
of brilliant crimson berries. “ I wonder what sort of flower 
they had,” she said. “ If one only knew in autumn what 
things were like in spring.” 

“ Do you know,” he said, “ that there is a great philo- 
sophical problem underneath that remark of yours ? If one 
could only know in autumn what had been the promise of 
the spring. If in the spring one could only know what the 
autumn would bring forth, one might in that case make a 
better thing out of life.” 

“ Oh ! ” she cried, “ to know in spring what the autumn 
is going to bring forth ! It would be terrible. It would 
spoil life. I should hate it. I don’t want to know any- 
thing. I want to live from day to day, never looking for- 
ward.” 

“ So that is your theory ! The mere joy of life contents 
you ? ” 

“ No, no,” she cried, impetuously. “ I say so, hut it is 
not true. I want much more than the mere joy of life. I 
am always looking forward — always wondering what is 
going to happen— always inventing situations— always ex- 
pecting people who never by any chance come along.” 

“ What sort of people ? ” he asked. 

“ The people who apparently live in romance, and not 
in real life,” she answered lightly. 

There was a “ Coo-ee ” from below. Elsie peeped over 
the ledge. 

“They are coming. Now we are going to where the 
horses are waiting.” 

“ They will not he waiting yet. Pompo and the black 
boys have to lead them a good three miles round the 
ridge.” 

And we have to climb down this ridge. Do you know 
the way ? ” she asked. 

“No, but I am as good a bushman, I think, as most 


ARE WE ENEMIES? 


129 


people. I’ll engage to strike the horses at the bottom of 
the gulley.” 

“ Mr. Frank Hallett knows the way,” said Elsie. “ He is 
coo-eeing to us to wait for him.” 

“ I don’t want to wait for Mr. Frank Hallett. I would 
rather show you the way myself. Will you let me be 
your guide ? ” 

“ If you like,” she answered. 

“ Come, then.” He held back an overhanging withe of a 
creeper, for her to pass through into the denser bush be- 
yond the little plateau. The ground sloped downward. 
There was a faint track, but it was difficult to tell whether 
it was a cattle track, or made by the passage of man. On 
each side, and all down the hill, were cairns of grey vol- 
canic stone, covered with a yellow-white lichen, that gave 
them a strange and hoary appearance. The white gums 
had something of the same eldritch look on account of the 
withes of greenish-grey moss which hung from their 
branches. Through their straight lanky stems could be 
seen glimpses of the grey precipice of Mount Luya. A few 
jagged grass-trees, some melancholy wattles, and stunted 
cinchona shrubs added to the wildness of the scene. As 
they got down into the gulley, the rocks became more 
steep and slippery, and the way more difficult. Blake held 
out his hand to help Elsie over the stones. She slipped 
and fell into his arms, but quickly recovered herself, and 
poised with the lightness of a fawn on a jutting rock. 
“ You don’t seem to like taking my hand,” said Blake, re- 
sentfully. 

“lam a very good climber,” she answered. “ And be- 
sides, Mr. Blake, did you really mean what you said ? Is 
everything that you or I do or say to be counted as a move 
in the game ? ” 

“ Most certainly, since we have determined to play the 
game. But you need not be so proud about accepting help 
over the stones. It will be I who run a risk, not you.” 

“I don’t understand you.” As she spoke, she put out 
her hand to balance herself, for she had slipped again. He 


130 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


took it in his, and with his eyes admiringly fixed upon her 
face guided her down a bad bit. Again that curious thrill 
of contact of which Elsie was distinctly sensible. So also 
seemed Blake. 

“ Can't you understand,” he said, in a voice unlike his 
usual deliberate utterance, “ that there might be a risk to a 
man in touching the hand of a woman like you, if ” 

“ If ? ” she asked. 

“ If he were fighting not so much against you as against 
himself ? ” 

“Ah!” cried Elsie, triumphantly, quoting his own 
words. “ Doesn't it seem a little like a confession of 
cowardice ? ” 

“ No,” he said, looking up to her from his lower level 
and then taking her bodily in his arms and lifting her 
down a miniature precipice; “whatever I maybe I am not a 
coward, and if you make me love you, Elsie— well, then we 
shall be quits. You shall love me too.” 

“ And then ? ” she said almost below her breath, looking 
at him with fascinated eyes. 

“ Then,” he said, with a light laugh, “ the game will be a 
drawn one, the battle lost for the two of us. We shall go 
our ways both wounded, and perhaps — who knows — neither 
of us sorry, though we may have to bear the x>ain of the 
hunt till our lives’ end.” 

She drew herself from him, throwing her body back 
against the rock. And at that moment there was a rustle in 
the diy leaves that choked a fissure almost at her elbow, 
and the gleam of something black and shining, which dis- 
appeared in the rank blady grass. Elsie gave a cry, and 
darted from the place, leaping past him on to a fallen log. 

“ What is it ? ” he said. 

“ Didn’t you see a snake ? Ina said this place was full of 
them, and I had forgotten. I am terrified of snakes. When 
I have a nightmare it is that I am bitten by a snake, and 
that I am somewhere out of reach of remedies. What 
should I have done if that thing had bitten me ? ” She 
shuddered. 


ARE WE ENEMIES 


131 


“ I should have sucked the poison from the bite, and then 
I should have given you ammonia— I always carry it with 
me in the bush ” — he touched his coat pocket, “ and in the 
long run you would not be very much the worse.” 

“ And you would have saved my life ? ” 

“ Yes, I suppose so, always allowing that it was a deadly 
snake, and that it had bitten you.” 

They did not speak for some time. Elsie was pale. She 
moved on hurriedly, looking to the right and left as she 
picked her steps. They had nearly got to the bottom of the 
ridge when Blake gave a “ Coo-ee.” There was no answer. 
‘'They are a long way behind us,” he said, coolly. “We 
have come down by a short cut.” 

‘‘ But where are the horses ? Perhaps we have come 
down quite wrong.” Elsie looked uneasy. 

"No, we have not. It is they who have gone out of their 
way. The horses are down there, and he pointed a little to 
the right. 

‘‘ How do you know ? ” 

“Oh, I know the country. You will see.” He called 
again, this time with a totally different note from the ordi- 
nary Australian “Coo-ee.” It was a strange wild sound, 
something like the cry of a bird, a most peculiar and wail- 
ing sound. 

“ They won’t know that. What an odd Coo-ee ! ” ex- 
claimed Elsie. As she spoke, the cry was repeated, and from 
the direction which Blake had indicated. 

“That is Pompo,” he said. “Pompo knows my call. 
Now, Miss Valliant, sit down on this log and rest till the 
others come. They will coo-ee fast enough. There, listen ! 
Didn’t I tell you ■? ” 

And from above and a good way off, to the left, 
there sounded Ina’s coo-ee— then another, in a man’s 
voice. 

' “ Sit down,” said Blake. “ You are panting, and you are 
quite pale. A few minutes ago you had the loveliest flush 
imaginable.” 

Elsie flushed now. She did not sit down, but leaned 


132 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


against a white gum-tree, tapping her riding skirt with her 
whip in an embarrassed manner. 

Mr. Blake,” she began. 

“ Well, Miss Valliant.” 

“You were wrong — in w^hat you said — in what you 
thought. I am not engaged to Mr. Frank Hallett.” 

“ Ah ! I wonder whether that is so much the better for 
him, or the worse.” 

“ The worse. I am not the kind of girl to make a man 
happy.” 

“ I think you might make a certain kind of man intensely 
happy — and under certain conditions.” 

“ What conditions ? ” 

“ First of all, he must be free to love you— free to make 
you his wife. And yet ” — he paused for a moment, then 
went on — “ I can imagine the desperate sort of joy — a joy in 
which minutes w'ould count as years, and a w^eek as a life- 
time — the joy of loving you, and conquering you, and 
teaching you the ineffable bliss of love — opening to you a 
whole world of new emotions and gathering the first fruits 
of your heart, with bliss intensified to an ecstasy of pain by 
the knowledge that it must end in a week. Perhaps that 
short-lived rapture might be worth more than a long mar- 
iled life of decorous commonplace conventional happiness, 
a Frank Hallett kind of happiness.” 

“ Don’t, don’t say things like that. I don’t know any- 
thing about such feelings.” 

“ No, but the time will come when you will know, and 
then you will remember my words. You will remember 
that it was as I told you, that you had in you the capacity 
for passion.” 

“ Yes,” she answered in a low voice ; “ I will re- 
member.” 

“ You understand now what I meant when I told you 
that I realized the risk I was running.” 

“ No,” she exclaimed. “ You talk in enigmas. You 
speak of a certain kind of man — of certain conditions w'hich 
don’t apply to you.” 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION 


133 


“ But if they did apply to me ? — if I was tbinkiug, speak- 
ing of myself ? ” 

‘‘How can that be? You are free. Your life is your 
own.” 

“ It is true,” he said slowly, “ that my life is my own. 
But it is true also that my life may be forfeited at any 
moment, and that I am not free to link the life of a 
woman like you with a career so wild and precarious as 
mine.” 

“Wild! precarious ! ” she repeated, in wonder. 

“You don’t know what I mean. It is not possible that 
you should. I am saying to you what I have said to no 
other woman in the world— to no other person in Australia. 
My life is wild and precarious — it is not necessary, not 
advisable, that you should understand in what way. Only 
understand this — I am the last man to ask a woman I love 
to share it.” 

“ I understand,” she said — “ no, I shall never understand, 
but I know what you wish to convey to me. I thank you 
for your warning. It was not needed. Will you show me 
now where the horses are ? ” 


CHAPTER XV. 

A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 

It seemed to Elsie that never in all her life long should 
she forget that moonlight ride. The sun was setting when 
they found the horses. They waited a little while in, as far 
as Blake and Elsie were concerned, a constrained silence. 
Elsie talked to Pompo and the black boys. She was a 
favourite with the blacks, and had picked up something of 
the Luya dialect. King Tommy of the Dell had been her 
instructor, and King Tommy was old and garrulous, and 
had even been beguiled into discussing the sacred mysteries 
of the Bora. Elsie had a theory that the most sacred initia- 


134 


OUTLAW AJS/B LAWMAKER. 


tion grounds of the Bora mystery were somewhere at the 
foot of Mount Luya, and that hence arose the superstitious 
dislike of the blacks to going anywhere near the Baroliii 
I’alL But Pompo only grinned when she hazarded this 
theory, and declared ‘‘ that White Missus plenty gammon,” 
which is the recognized black formula .for avoiding a deli- 
cate subject. He was more communicative when Elsie 
asked about the great Wolla-Wolla, the black parliament, 
and about the marriage laws of the Luya tribes, the Combo, 
Hippi, and Haggi families. Elsie had arrived at a due un- 
derstanding of the fact that the child of a Combo-Hippi 
must marry a Hippi-Haggi, and their child in turn must 
wed with a Haggi-Combo, when the Coo-ees of the rear 
party sounded nearer and louder, and presently Hallett and 
Lady Horace, closely followed by Lord Horace and Mrs. 
Allanby, made their appearance, and proceeded at once to 
mount. 

It was easy goiug all the way home. They rode across 
a series of flats made by the bends of the river. There was 
no excuse for loitering in twos. Lord Horace and Trant 
started a chorus — Lord Horace’s adaptation of Adam Lind- 
say Gordon’s spirited lines. 

The moon was getting near its full, and cast ghostly 
shadows upon the flat and under the gnarled apple gums 
and the queer rocky knolls that had a way of starting up on 
the edge of a flat where the hills encroached towards the 
river. The way was not so picturesque as that which they 
had taken in the morning, but it was much better adapted to 
a night ride. Gipsy Girl knew she was going home, and 
went fleetly along — Hallett close by Elsie’s side, for Blake 
made no attempt at any further talk, but rode by Lady 
Horace, who afterwards confessed to Elsie that he was cer- 
tainly very agreeable. As for Elsie, she felt in a dream. 
She hardly knew what Frank Hallett was talking about, 
though she answered mechanically even and found herself 
laughing. He was telling her about his election campaign, 
and his coming tour on the Wallaroo, on which he was to 
start on the morrow. 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 


135 


And the Horace Gages and Elsie were going too, and the 
party was to break up. 

They would meet no more till Parliament opened next 
month and Leichardt’s Town gaieties had begun, and Elsie 
had, as she said, with her little laugh, got through her jam- 
making. Ina and Eord Horace were coming down to meet 
the Waveryngs, who were to turn up some time in the winter. 
All the while Elsie was thinking of Blake’s strange words, 
seeing in fancy the dark, dangerous eyes which already 
imagination pictured too often for her heail’s peace. What 
had he meant by saying that his life was wild and preca- 
rious he whose life seemed so steady and safe, who had 
just been elected member for Luya, who was going through 
the usual Leichardt’s Town routine, and who would be at 
Tunimba for their picnic in the spring ? Why was he afraid 
of loving her ? Why should she not love him ? Why 
might he not open to her that world of new emotion, of 
which in very truth she had even now caught a faint 
glimpse ? Why ?— Why ? 

The night sounds mingled with her thoughts and in- 
creased the dreamlike feeling. There was the strange pour- 
ing-water sound of the swamp pheasant, the little sweet gug- 
gle, like water trickling, and there were uncanny gr — rr — s 
and swishes of wings and harsh screeches as the horses’ 
tread startled the waterfowl in the creek, and the wombats 
and opossums from their tree-lairs. And then from the 
scrub came the dingo’s howl, weird and melancholy, and 
the curlews were wailing in the Boomerang Swamp. The 
horses’ hoofs sounded pat-pat on the dry grass, and how 
curious the shadows were of the riders as they went by, like 
the dream shadows of the fairy story. A wild sense of ir- 
responsibility came over Elsie. She almost laughed aloud 
at her fancy. She imagined a masked and armed horseman 
on a coal-black steed dashing into their midst, and bear- 
ing her away, away into the black depths of the scrub ; 
away into an unknown life ; away from all that was 
prosaic and commonplace, to a land of intoxicating sur- 
prises, of daring deeds, and love rapture. And somehow 


136 


O UTLA \V A ND LA WMAKER. 


the masked horseman had Blake’s eyes gleaming through 
his visor. 

‘‘ Elsie,” Hallett said suddenly, “ I am sure that you are 
dreadfully tired. You haven’t said a word for a quarter of 
an hour.” 

“ Haven’t I — not said a word ? I thought I was saying 
— oh, all kinds of clever and brilliant things. Yes, I am 
tired.” 

“We shall soon he at home. There are the lights across 
the creek from the men’s huts. Have you enjoyed your 
day ? ” 

“Enjoyed my day ? Yes, I have had a very happ}’- day. 
I shall always remember to-day.” 

“ I am glad of that, since it was I who suggested the pic- 
nic, though, to be sure, Blake has had more to do wdth the 
carrying out of it. You have been talking to Blake a great 
deal to-day, Elsie ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“ Do you like him ? ” 

“ Yes — no. I don’t know. I think I hate him.” 

“Why, Elsie ! You began by saying you liked him.” 

“I wasn’t thinking.’’ 

“ Then it is clear that it is not Blake who has made you 
enjoy to-day. And you ought to tell Lady Horace, for she 
was talking about him, and she seemed uneasy, and she 
made me uneasy too,” said Hallett. 

“ What about ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ She thought he was getting a kind of influence over 
you, and that it would lead to no good. It will be a relief 
to her to know that you don’t like him.” 

“ No, I don’t like him. I will tell Ina so. Prank, tell 
me, do you think Ina is happy ? ” 

“ Honestly, I don’t think she is. But Lord Horace is a 
harum-scarum chap, and makes her anxious perhaps. By- 
and-by he will tone down.” 

“ I will tell you what I think. Horace is selfish, and he 
is fickle. He has fads. He had a fad for Australian pictur- 
esqueness. He fell in love with Id a because she is Aus- 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 


137 


tralian, and he thought she was picturesque. He would 
have fallen in love with me if I had allowed it ; it would 
have been all the same to him. Just now he is a little tired 
of picturesque barbarism. He begins to see that the bush 
life isn’t a picnic, and he is taken up with Mrs. Allanby be- 
cause she is English, and because his soul begins to hanker 
a little after the tiesh-pots of Egypt, and Mrs. Allanby repre- 
sents the older civilization. I have no patience with Hor- 
ace. Ina would manage him a great deal better if she were 
not so submissive.” 

Frank laughed. “ You don’t mean to make that mistake 
anyhow,” he said. 

And just then they got to the creek, and the lights of the 
head station came into full view, and there was a chorus of 
dogs rushing out and barking to greet their masters. 

Elsie had only a few words with Blake that night. “ Good- 
night and good-bye,” he said. ‘'We start at daylight to- 
morrow, and I shall be in Leichardt’s Town by nightfall. 
Can I do anything for you there ? ” 

“ I shall be there very soon myself,” she answered. 

“ Then I shall very shortly take advantage of your per- 
mission, and I shall present myself at Emu Point.” 

“ You will begin your new duties very soon,” said Elsie. 

‘‘Yes; Parliament meets in a few weeks, and as I sup- 
pose you know, there is a talk of the Ministry going out on 
the Address. Will you come to hear my maiden speech. 
Miss Valliant ? ” 

“ I never go to the Ladies’ Gallery,” she answered. “ I 
have never taken any interest in politics.” 

“ You must take a little interest in them now, however — 
now that both Hallett and I have gone into public life. 
Which of us, I wonder, will be first in the Cabinet ? ” 

“You are going in for that?” she asked, in slight sur- 
prise. 

“ When I play a game I always play it thoroughly,” he 
replied. 

“ Good-night,” she said abruptly, “ and good-bye.” She 
left him. 


138 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Trant waylaid her as she was passing along the veran- 
dah to her room in Ina’s wake. 

“ Miss Valliant, I have two things to ask you.” 

“ What are they, Mr. Trant ? ” 

“Will you let me come and see you in Leichardt’s 
Town ? ” 

“ Why, of course. I have told Mr. Blake that he may 
come.” 

“ I am not Blake, and Blake isn’t me. I shall come on 
my own account. The second request is, that you will give 
me the first waltz at the May hall.” 

“I am afraid that is promised.” 

“ Has Blake been beforehand with me ? ” Trant’s face 
darkened. “ I won’t stand that.” 

“ I am under a standing engagement to dance the first 
waltz at all the May halls with Mr. Frank Hallett.” 

“ Oh ! Is that engagement going to hold after you are 
married, Miss Valliant ?” 

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t.” 

“ Your husband might object, that’s all. Never mind, 
I’m not jealous of Mr. Hallett. You’ll give me the sec- 
ond?” 

“Promised, too.” 

“Blake?” 

She nodded. 

“ Then the third ? ” 

“Yes, the third, if you like; always supposing that his 
Royal Highness or his Excellency the Governor don’t want 
to dance it with me.” 

“ I have no doubt that his Royal Highness will want to 
dance with you, and the Governor, too ; unless he is a staid 
old married man. I’ll risk it for that dance, and I shall 
book the engagement.” 

The cottage on Emu Point seemed smaller than ever 
after the comparative magnificence of Tunimba. Nobody 
had made the jam, and Mrs. Valliant was plaintively queru- 
lous. She was a delicate, rather would-be fine woman, who 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 


139 


had once been as pretty as Elsie, but who had never had a 
tenth part of Elsie’s brains and brightness, or of Ina’s com- 
mon sense. She looked a little draggled now, and had lost 
her hair and her teeth, and the badly fitting false teeth of 
the Leichardt’s Town dentist gave her an artificial look. 

“ I shouldn’t have minded about the jam if you had come 
back engaged to Frank Hallett,” she said. 

“But I haven’t, mother, and there’s an end of it,” said 
Elsie; “and I don’t see the remotest prospect of being en- 
gaged to anybody for a long time to come.” 

“It is your own fault,” moaned Mrs. Valliant. “You 
have got the name of being a flirt and of encouraging men 
who are no use in the way of marrying. These town men 
never are.” 

“ They are very good to dance with,’* said Elsie. “ Don’t 
worry, mother. If the worst comes to the worst, and no- 
body will marry me, I can always end up as a barmaid, you 
know. I’ve got attractive manners— to men, at any rate. 
At least so they say.” 

“ And the women hate you ; I hear that old cat. Lady 
Garflt, has been setting it about that Frank Hallett has 
thrown you over because you flirted so abominably with 
that new man, Blake.” 

Elsie flushed. “ Lady Garflt is jealous, because Eose was 
out of it, and Frank Hallett has not thrown me over. Oh, 
mother, let us forget for one whole evening that my mission 
in life is to marry, and help me to look over my old ball 
dresses, and see what I can do with them for this winter.” 

They were terribly poor, the Valliants, and it was not 
surprising that Mrs. Valliant should wish to marry off Elsie. 
No one but Elsie and Ina knew how they had to pinch and 
save, and to what straits they were sometimes reduced 
in order that Mrs. Valliant might have a decent black 
silk, with a high and a square-cut bodice, in which to take' 
her place among the Leichardt’s Town ladies at such func- 
tions as called for her attendance. No one but Ina and 
Elsie knew how the girls used to toil in the mornings to get 
their house work done to have the afternoons free for their 
10 


140 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


visitors and for their flirtations, and how late they would 
sit up at nights to make the pretty, simple dresses which 
Elsie and Ina wore at the balls and garden parties, and which 
ill-natured mothers of less attractive daughters declared 
were bought at expensive shops with borrowed money, 
which Elsie’s husband would one day have to pay back. 
But as a matter-of-fact it was Mrs. Valliant’s boast that they 
had never owed a penny, and that Ina had gone to her hus- 
band with as respectable a trousseau as any other Leich- 
ardt’s Town girl could have had. Ina’s wedding, however, 
had crippled the widow’s resources for some time to come, 
and there was little enough wherewith to fit Elsie out for her 
winter campaign. Yet in spite of their poverty, they got 
along happily enough, and Elsie sang over her work and Mrs. 
Valliant, in gloves, swept the floors, and made the Beds, and 
did the clear-starching and ironing so beautifully that the 
Valliant girls’ white frocks were the admiration of the 
town. 

It was a pretty cottage in its way, though it was so 
small— only four rooms and a verandah and lean-to kitchen, 
but it had a little garden which Peter the Kanaka boy 
looked after — a garden with flaming poinsettia shrubs, and 
some oleander trees, and a passion-creeper arbour, and a 
small plantation of bananas, and some lantana shrubs grow- 
ing on the bank which shel ved down to the river. It was a 
great thing having this tiny bit of frontage on the river, for 
the girls had had a boat, which Elsie now managed alone, 
and which saved her a good deal in omnibus fares and fer- 
riage. The Leichardt Eiver winds about like a great S, and 
beyond Emu Point there lies the North Side, as it is called, 
where are all the grand shops and the Houses of Parliament 
and Government House and the Clubs, and beyond, again, 
is the South Side, where smaller folk dwell. The big people 
have mostly houses with large gardens along the north 
bank of the river, or off Emu Point. The Valliant cottage 
was not in the fashionable part of Emu Point, but lay in 
the neck, and was approached through a paddock of gum- 
trees, once part of a large property, now gradually be- 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 


141 


ing cut up and covered with little wooden houses, in 
which then lived the genteel poor of Leichardt’s Town 
society. 

The verandah at Riverside, as the Valliant’s cottage was 
named, had a trellis of Cape jasmine and thumbergia, and 
in one corner of it Elsie had established herself with her 
sewing machine and a garden table, on which were her 
books and workbasket. The soft April wind from the river 
fanned her cheeks, and had a touch of chill. Winter was 
close at hand. The poinsettia was beginning to flaunt its 
red leaves, and the bougainvillea that covered the verandah 
roof had a tinge of pale mauve. Elsie was working dili- 
gently, and she made a pretty picture as she bent over the 
machine. She was so busy, and the treadle of the machine 
made such a noise that she did not hear the garden gate 
click, and it was not till a shadow came between her and 
the light that she looked up and saW' Blake. 

“How do you do. Miss Valliant ? ” he said quietly. “I 
should have been here before, but that I did not get to 
Leichardt’s Town quite as soon as I expected ; that is, I got 
here the evening of the day I left Tunirnba, but I bad to go 
away again immediately.” 

Elsie got up from the machine and gave him her hand. 
She was oddly confused. “ I am sorry that my mother is 
not at home : she has gone over to the North Side. Will 
you sit here, or would you rather go in ? ” 

“ I would much rather sit here, if I may ? ” He drew 
forward a canvas chair. “ I don’t recognize you in your 
new character. I never saw you sewung before. What is 
it— a gown ? It looks very pretty.” He touched the deli- 
cate fabric which' Elsie was hemming and gathering into 
frills. 

“ You will see me wearing it,” she said ; “ and I wonder 
if you will like me in it— white muslin. It sounds v^ery 
innocent and Miss Edgeworthish, doesn’t it ? but it is to be 
glorified white muslin— copied from the print of somebody’s 
picture — a Romney, I think.” 

“ Yes, Romney would have found you a delightful model 


14:2 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


—almost as good as Lady Hamilton, and lie would have 
given all the soft richness of your colouring.” 

At his compliment Elsie recovered her self-possession. 

“ Never mind my colouring. Tell me what news there is 
while I work. I am going to sew all these strips together, 
if you don’t mind.” 

“ No, I don’t mind at all. I like to see a woman work- 
ing, especially if she is worth watching. One can stare at 
her without seeming rude, and then it makes one feel more 
at home. 1 have some news for you, Miss Valliant ; news 
which ought to interest you very much. I don’t think you 
can have heard it, for they had got it at the Club just as I 
left.” 

‘‘ What is it ? Is the date fixed for the first Government 
House ‘ At home ’ ? I don’t know of anything else which 
will interest me particularly.” 

“Eeally, not even Mr. Frank Hallett’s election ? ” 

“He has got in then. Of course I knew he would get 
in.” 

“ Yes, he has got in, and by a good majority. I am hon- 
estly glad. By all the laws of justice he ought to have 
beaten me at Goondi.” 

“ Why, I suppose the best man wins, wherever it is.” 

“ I am afraid that in this case it wasn’t the best man win- 
ning. If he had been an Irishman, he would have had a 
walk over. The patriotic spirit was roused, and I got the 
benefit of it. Well, you will see now how we shall fight in 
the Legislative Assembly. Parliameot opens, you know, 
next week.” 

There was another click at the gate. Blake cursed the 
untimely visitor. 

It was Captain Macpherson, who, since the races on the 
Luya, had developed a tenderness for Elsie. He looked a > 
little cross at the sight of Blake, who scarcely stirred from 
his seat. Captain Macpherson threw himself on the edge of 
the verandah, with an air of easy familiarity. He^had 
brought an offering, in the shape of banana candy, and 
Elsie nibbled at it daintily. 


A VERANDAH RECEPTION. 


143 


“I wonder you aren’t ashamed to come to town. 
Oughtn’t you to be looking after Moonlight?” 

‘‘ Moonlight is the devil,” exclaimed Captain Macpherson. 
“I beg your pardon, Miss Valliant, but what can you say of 
a fellow who disappears from mortal ken on the Luya with 
•the whole army of police and trackers on the look out for 
him, and then all of a sudden turns up, mask, black horse, 
and everything else, close by Wallaroo ; and when the 
moon is new. Nobody expects Moonlight to be on the ram- 
page unless it’s full moon.”^ 

“ Ah ! ” said Blake, indifferently. “ And the police have 
no clue ? ” 

“ None in the world, and never will have, unless one of 
the gang turns traitor.” 

“ That’s my belief, though perhaps I am not the person to 
state it.” 

Another visitor appeared, one who had come in a boat to 
the landing, and now approached through the banana grove, 
a young man, very neatly got up, and with a town air, and 
an evident determination to be equal to all circumstances. 
He was, in fact, a clerk in the Post Office, and was also 
honorary secretary to a new club. His ostensible reason 
for coming was, in fact, to give the information that the 
committee of this same club had fixed the date for their 
house-warming ball, and that it would take place the night 
but one after the Government House birthday ball. He had 
brought his offering too, in the shape of two first-blown 
camellias of the year, which, he said, he had got from the 
curator of the Botanical Gardens. Elsie accepted the flow- 
ers graciously, and took them up and looked at them alter- 
nately with her nibblings of Captain Macpherson’s banana 
candy. She seemed to take the offerings for granted, and 
Blake could not help saying, “ I see that it is the custom to 
lay propitiatory tribute at the feet of the goddess.” 

“ That is a very horrid way of putting it,” said Elsie, 
flushing up. “ They call this sort of thing my verandah 
receptions,” she added. “A lot of gentlemen always turn 
up when there is anything going on.” 


144 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


One or two others turned up later, and Elsie went in and 
came out presently, followed by the Kanaka boy, with a 
tray and the tea things. Then Elsie requested Mr. Saun- 
ders, the young man in the Post Office, to cut some bread 
and butter, and there was some joking about the next cake- 
making day, and it transpired that on one occasion Elsie’s* 
admirers had been turned into amateur cooks, and had 
helped to bake a batch of biscuits. Certainly there was 
very little formality about Elsie’s verandah receptions. The 
Kanaka boy in his gardening clothes stood gravely w^aiting 
to get hot water as required, and Elsie requested her guests 
to help themselves from the various bunches of bananas 
hanging from the verandah rafters. “ Riverside is famous 
for its bananas,” she said to Blake, “bananas and strawberry 
guavas, those are our attractions, not counting the chucky- 
chucky tree by the river. Will you come some time and 
help me to get chucky-chuckies ? ” 

Mr. Holmes, one of Elsie’s army of detrimentals, pro- 
posed a pull on the river before the w’eather got cold, and 
Elsie gravely made the appointment and accepted an invita- 
tion to meet somebody else on the North Side, and get an ice 
at the Leichardt’s Town Gunter’s. About sunset Mrs. Val- 
liant appeared. She made Blake think of the descriptions 
he had read of the American mother. She was a personage 
equally unimportant in the general scheme of things. 


CHAPTER XVI. 
trant’s warning. 

Every one said that this was going to be one of the gay- 
est winters there had ever been in Leichardt’s Town. The 
Birthday Ball was heralded by several smaller entertain- 
ments. The Garfits gave an impromptu dance, to which 
they were compelled to invite Elsie, though before Ina’s 
marriage she had not been asked to the Garfits’ less formal 


TRANT8 WARNING. 


145 


entertainments. The Prydes had a picnic, which wound up 
with a dance, and the arrival of the new Governor was an 
occasion for social functions of a public character. Lord 
Horace and Ina came down and established themselves in 
an hotel boarding-house on Emu Point, and Blake found it 
convenient also to take up his temporary abode there, 
though he had to cross the river to get to the Houses of 
Parliament. A great many gentlemen lodged at Fermoy’s, 
as it was called, its proprietor being a certain widowed Mrs. 
Fermoy, who took a motherly interest in her lodgers and 
carefully made it known that she had no matrimonial inten- 
tions. Mr. and Mrs. Jem Hallett did not patronize Fer- 
moy’s. They took a small furnished house on the North 
Side, and Mrs. Jem at once made it evident that she intend- 
ed to belong to the Government House set, she was so ultra- 
English in all her ways. Frank Hallett naturally stayed 
with them, but very few days passed* on which he did not 
on some pretext or other find his way across the river to 
Emu Point. Indeed, at this time Miss Valliant’s admirers 
were a small source of revenue to the proprietors of the 
Emu Point ferry, there were so many of them, and even if 
they did not actually call at Riverside they haunted the 
Point in the hope of meeting Elsie on her way to and from 
the North Side. They were certainly a great worry to Mrs. 
Valliant, who thought that the detrimentals kept off desira- 
ble suitors, and who was afraid that Frank Hallett’s con- 
stancy would give way under the strain to which Elsie sub- 
jected it. She consoled herself by the reflection, since Elsie 
gave h^r the assurance, that the two understood each other. 
In any case it was useless to try and curb Elsie’s humour. 

The girl was in a wild mood. She had never before 
rushed so eagerly into excitement. She seemed to live for 
amusement, getting through her household duties by dint 
of rising at an unearthly hour, in order that she might rush 
over to the North Side on pretence of shopping, and stroll 
about the streets and the gardens with Minnie Pryde, seek- 
ing whom she might entrap into her toils. It was not a 
very dignified or a very womanly manner of proceeding. 


146 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and, as Elsie sometimes told herself, a nice girl, like Bose 
Garht, for instance, would have behaved very differently. 
“ But I’m not a nice girl,” Elsie said passionately one day to 
Ina, who had been remonstrating with her upon her con- 
duct. “ A nice girl would never have done the things I’ve 
done. And what does it matter, Ina ? If I disgust Frank 
Hallett— well, so much the better. I think that is why I 
do it.” 

But Frank Hallett was always the same, always devoted, 
always timid of obtruding his devotion, very quiet some- 
times, often sad, but ready at any moment to answer at 
Elsie’s beck. 

He was a good deal occupied just now with his new 
duties. There was a great measure coming — a great meas- 
ure for Leichardt’s Land, involving the destinies, so its op- 
ponents said, of that promising young colony, and if it were 
carried— indeed so also its opponents said, involving the im- 
mediate ruin and destruction of the colony’s best interests. 
The question was one of a loan to which Sir James Garfit’s 
Ministry had pledged themselves, and it was w'hispered 
loudly that Sir James Garfit’s Ministry would be defeated. 

Elsie was not at the Opening of the Assembly, which was 
performed in all manner of state by the new Governor, 
a prosy, rather pompous old man, with a wife who had set 
herself the difficult task of reforming the morals and man- 
ners of the Leichardtstonians. Elsie listened to the salvo of 
guns which announced the conclusion of the ceremony 
while she ironed a white frock to wear at a concert the next 
evening, to which she was gojng with the Prydes. She felt 
a little out of things and cross because Minnie Pryde was 
more favoured than she was — to say nothing of Bose Garfit. 
The thought flashed across her mind that i^erhaps next year 
she might be taking her place as the wife of one of the min- 
isters in that august pageant, and that Minnie Pryde would 
be nowhere, and even Bose Garfit obliged to give way to 
her. 

“ I wonder if he imll do anything,” she said to herself. 
“He is certain to be asked to join the ministry, if Sir 


TRANTS WARNING. 


147 


James Garfit keeps in, and Mr. Leeke really resigns for 
him.’’ 

Mr. Leeke was the Minister for Mines, and he was in 
precarious health and anxious to get to England,'and it was 
generally supposed among the squatting politicians that he 
was keeping his post only till Frank Hallett was ready to 
step into his shoes. 

Elsie put the iron back on the stove, and took up another, 
testing its heat against her delicate face. Her eyes took a 
far away look, as she stood for a moment or two with the 
iron in her hand. “ I wonder if he will remember the 
violets,” she murmured, but it was not of Frank Hallett she 
was thinking. 

She was to go with Ina to the House that afternoon, 
when Frank Hallett would move the debate on the Speech. 
It had been said that Blake would speak also. Ina and her 
husband had asked her to lunch with them at Fermoy’s, and 
she wondered whether there was any likelihood of Blake 
being there also. She knew that there was no chance of 
either Blake or Frank Hallett calling that forenoon, but she 
expected Minnie Pryde, and perhaps some of her various 
admirers, who would give her the news of the opening. 

Minnie Pryde came early. She came fortified with 
banana candy, and sat down on the verandah steps prepared 
for what she called a ‘‘jabber.” 

“ The Garfits have fastened on to Lady Stukeley,” she 
announced, “and so has Mrs. Jem Hallett. I think she 
must have got her dress from England.” 

“ Who, Mrs. Jem — yes, I know she did — why ?” 

“ It was the very cut of Lady Stukeley’s. Oh, Elsie, why 
can’t we have our things from England ? I declare I’d 
marry anybody who would let me have a box every year 
from London. . . . There were a lot of new men there,” 
continued Minnie, “several new Western members, and then 
the private secretary and aide-de-camp, only he is married, 
and his wife is a dowdy, I can tell you. Well, I can tell 
you too, that I was rather glad you weren’t at the Opening,” 
said Miss Pryde, with an air of fine candour. “ The new 


148 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


men wouldn’t have paid so much attention to me. You 
always cut us poor things out. As it was, I ratlier enjoyed 
myself.” Just now there was a truce between Elsie and 
Minnie Pryde. Minnie thought it more diplomatic, on the 
whole, to be good friends with her rival. 

“Well, I’m glad of that,” said Elsie, a little disdainfully. 
“ I don’t know why you should say that I cut you out.” 

“ With a certain sort of man,” replied Miss Pryde, weigh- 
ing her words as though she were mentally discriminating. 
“There are some men who might like a girl like me best. 
But the English sort — and some of the Australian, for of 
course the Halletts are Australian — and men of a mysteri- 
ous kind — heroes of romance — such as Mr. Blake — go in for 
you. You are more — more, well, I don’t know how to put 
it — more like a girl in a book.” 

Elsie laughed, not ill-pleased. “ And Mr. Blake ? — he 
was there, of course ? ” 

“ Of course. He came in with the rest when they were 
sent for, like a lot of school boys, and stood at the Bar of 
the House. How funny it seems ! I don’t know why they 
shouldn’t have been there all the time. And then the Gov- 
ernor read his speech, with the aide-de-camp in a tight red 
coat and the private secretary in another on each side of 
him, and Captain Briggs, of the surveying schooner, in a 
blue uniform— to represent the Naval forces of the colony I 
suppose— and Captain Macpherson for the military ! Oh, 
it was funny, I can tell you. I felt inclined to call out to 
Macpherson ‘What about Moonlight ’—and Lady Stukelej^, 
who was in green velvet, and such a diamond star fastening 
her bonnet, nodded Avhen the Governor came to anything 
impressive. And afterwards, when all the swells had gone, 
we went over the House. And Mr. Blake came and spoke 
to me, and asked me where you were.” 

“ And you told him, I suppose, that since I didn’t happen 
to have a father or brother or cousin or very great friend in 
the Cabinet, I was naturally not invited. Are you going to 
hear the speeches this evening, Minnie ? ” 

“Well, I will, if Ina will let me go with her,” said Miss 


TRANTS WARNING. 


149 


Pryde, “ though I’m not as a rule keen on speeches. But 
somebody said that both Mr. Blake and Prank Haliett are 
going to speak, and that there’s to be ruction over the Loan 
Clause. I should like to see Rose Gartit’s face if Sir James 
is beaten.” 

It was settled that Minnie Pryde should walk with Elsie 
to Fermoy’s, and see Lady Horace, about five o’clock, and in 
the meantime Mrs. Valliant went on with the ironing, and 
Elsie consulted Minnie about her dress for the May ball and 
other festivities. They were in the middle of their finery 
when Mr. Dominic Trant appeared, and he was followed by 
several other of Elsie’s and Miss Pryde’s admirers. On this 
afternoon, when the Public Offices closed early, there were 
always sure to be some young gentlemen at Riverside. 

Mr. Trapt attached himself at once to Elsie. He had 
puzzled her a little by his manner of late. Sometimes he 
j had been sullen, even morose, sometimes tragic, sometimes 
he was ardent, and his dark eyes glowed with a sort of fierce 
excitement which was almost alarming. But Elsie had 
i been a good deal taken up with other thoughts, and had not 
; paid much attention to Mr. Trant. He amused and dis- 
I tracted her, and fed her vanity, and that was all. 
j To-day he was in a tragic mood. 

■ “ When are you going back to Barolin ? ” Elsie asked, 

i “You can answer that question better than I,” he said. 

! “How?” 

! “It is you who keep me in Leichardt’s Town. Do you 
I suppose I care in the least for this fooling about hotel bil- 
j hard rooms and tea-parties, and for philandering up and 
1 down Victoria-street ? And yet I hang about .Grandoni's 
half the morning, and eat ices and drink sherry cobblers in 
’ . a way that plays the deuce with my digestion, on the chance 
of your turning up anywhere about ; and I haunt the ferry 
steps, and I parade up and down the bunya walk in the 
I Botanical Gardens— all for you.” 

‘ “That is very foolish of you, Mr. Trant.” 

^ “ Is it foolish ? ” He bent towards her. They were sit- 

:■ ting on the boat-house steps in the banana grove, whither 


150 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


Elsie had gone on pretext of finding some still ungathered 
lady’s fingers which had ripened on the stem. Elsie was 
now daintily peeling one of the bananas, and Trant watched 
her with fixed eyes. “ I don’t think it is so foolish, 
though it may seem so to you now, Miss Valliant, be- 
cause you don’t care for me. Do you suppose that I am 
not aware of that ? If you care for any one in the world 
it is for Blake ” 

“ Mr. Trant ! ” Elsie half rose. “ You have no right to 
say such a thing.” 

He put out his hand to detain her. *‘No, don't go, don’t 
be indignant. After all, it is only what everybody else is 
saying, and I know of two chaps who have a bet on as to 
whether you will marry Blake or Frank Hallett within the 
year. I’m out of the running altogether, you see, but for 
all that I’m not afraid to enter the lists, and I think I’ve as 
good a chance as either of them ; though you won’t let me 
tell you how fond I am of you.” 

“Oh, please go on, Mr. Trant. It is very interesting. 
I don’t think anybody ever, ever made love to me quite in 
this way.” 

“ I’m not making love to you just now. That will come 
later, and when I do make love to you I warn you that I 
shall be a tornado. I shall sweep you off your feet; you’ll 
have to listen to me. I’m only stating facts now. Of course 
I know very well that Blake is much more the kind of fel- 
low for a girl to fall in love with than I am. I don’t imagine 
for a moment that you will ever fall in love with me. I 
shall make my coup in a different way. I shall carry you 
off.” 

Elsie laughed outright. “ Oh ! really, Mr. Trant ! Like 

a Border knight, or Moonlight ? ” 

j “Yes,” he said, grimly, “like Moonlight.” 

“ And how shall you manage it ? Will you appear 
booted and spurred at one of the Leichardt’s Town tennis 
parlies and seize me— gallop off with me in front of you ? 
Or will you waylay our jingle when we are going to the 
Government House ball ? Or will you wait till we are on 


TRANTS WARN IX G. 


151 


tlie Luya again, and imprison me in some stronghold in one 
of the gorges ? ” 

“ That would probably be the wisest thing to do,” an- 
swered Trant, still grimly. “ We shall see. Miss Valliant. 
Many a true word is spoken in jest, you know. In the 
meantime I don’t mean to bother you except for a dance or 
two now and then, and there’s no occasion for me to leave 
Leichardt’s Town just yet. I shall wait and watch the 
game. Only listen to this, I’ve warned you once, re- 
member, and it's disinterested of me to v/arn you again. 
Don’t let Blake fool you. He will never marry any- 
one ; he has got other things to think about. He only 
cares about women for the sake of amusement ; but is 
quite capable of making you believe that he is madly 
in love with you just to cut out Frank Hallett, or 
for the excitement of the thing, and then he will throw 
you over as he has' thrown over other women before 
you.” 

Elsie turned quite pale. “ Mr. Trant, you amuse me 
rather when you talk like that, it is unlike other people. 
But there are limits even to amusement, and I beg that you 
will not speak to me of either Mr. Blake or Mr. Frank Hal- 
lett in that way again.” 

“ Very well,” said Trant, doggedly, “I have w^arned you, 
remember. As I said, it is against my own interest. My 
game is to let Blake have his way. After that will 
come my turn, and then I shall clear the course by sheer 
strength of will. It will be a coup d'etat. You know 
I told you that I al ways succeeded in what I had set my 
mind on.” 

“ I congratulate you.” 

I don’t intend to live this sort of life for much longer. 
Miss Valliant. I don’t mean to bury myself at Barolin. I 
have done that for a purpose ; I wanted to make money. 
When I marry, my wife will be in a position to enjoy her- 
self, and to see the world.” 

“ That will be very nice for your wife, Mr. Trant, when 
you have one.” Elsie got up. “ Do you know I think it is 


152 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


time for me to get ready to walk to Mrs. Fermoy’s. I am 
going to have tea there, and afterwards Ina is to take me to 
hear the speeches.” 


CHAPTER XVII. 

IN THE ladies’ GALLERY. 

The Ladies’ Gallery was crowded. It had been set about 
that Blake was an orator, that his speech would be a stirring 
one, and already" the picturesque personality of the man had 
impressed Leichardt’s Town society. Besides this, it was 
known that Frank Hallett would move the Address, and 
people were interested in Frank Hallett as a coming min- 
ister. 

There is no tiresome grating in front of the Ladies’ Gal- 
lery in Colonial Houses of Parliament, and any member 
who chose to look ux3 might have easily recognized the stolid 
features of Lady Garfit and the placid pink and white pretti- 
ness of her daughter, and just behind, they might have seen 
Ina Gage’s delicate, rather pensive face, Miss Minnie Pryde’s 
black eyes and brunette complexion, and Elsie Valliant’s 
more distinguished beauty. Both Blake and Frank Hallett 
did look UX3, and Elsie noted the different bearing of the two 
men, each of whom was to make his maiden effort in that 
assembly. Frank was evidently nervous — grave, absorbed, 
and hiding embarrassment under a mask of reserve. Blake 
was indifferent, unconcerned, always giving a sense of la- 
tent power, always with a certain kingliness of bearing, and 
at the same time a certain dare-devilry of which Elsie was 
keenly conscious. It seemed to her that his eyes sought 
hers, and that his face changed over so slightly when their 
glances met. Her heart was beating strangely. She gave 
a violent start when Frank Hallett’s voice sounded behind 
her. 

“ Are you quite comfortable ? ” he asked. 

“ Yes, quite, thank you,” she answered. 


IK THE LADIES' GALLERY. 


153 


“ I am afraid you find it rather dull up here,” he said, 
“ and it will be a few minutes yet before we get to my part 
of the business.” 

“ You are looking rather pale. Are you nervous ? ” 

“ Horribly nervous. I am sick with nervousness.” 

But that won’t last.” 

“ No,” he said, once I begin I shall get on well enough. 
It’s the interval of waiting that sets my nerves going. It’s 
like lying in the trenches, you know, before the enemy have 
come up. Now I must get back to my place.” 

He ran downstairs. He had ^hardly settled into his 
place when the Speaker began to read the speech which 
the Governor had delivered that morning. The instant the 
reading was done Hallett got on his legs and set himself to 
his task of moving the -reply to the Address. Elsie went 
through a moment of breathless anxiety while he was stand- 
i ing, waiting before he spoke, and then she heard his voice, 
and felt reassured. After a minute or two of nervousness 
Hallett went on with his speech composedly and well. Elsie 
did not care very much about the substance of the speech, 
but it seemed to her to be well composed, and was delivered 
with the fluency which only just stopped short of being 
* monotonous. It went over a great variety of topics to 
which she paid little attention, but she could hear that it 
was received with great favour on Hallett’s side of the 
I house, and with respectful attention on the other. She was 
glad to find that there were no ironical cheers or bursts of 
interruption, not, perhaps, quite realizing that a speech 
which escapes from these tributes of opposition is seldom a 
speech likely to make a name for the orator. 

Hallett sat down amid very cordial applause from the 
house in general.' She could see that. Everyone was glad 
I to find the young man doing well in his first attempt, and 
i she felt all but delighted at the result. He had certainly 

i not failed. On the contrary, he had evidently succeeded, 

i It was exactly what she had expected of him, and she was 
content with him. Perhaps she could have wished for 
something a little more dazzling, something thrilling, like 


154 : 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


that speech she had heard from the verandah of the hotel 
at Goondi, of which she had been able to catch only the 
voice, not the words. But still to wish that Hallett had 
been dazzling would be to wish that Hallett were not Hal- 
lett, only somebody else. 

Then a rough and mumbling voice was heard, and she 
became aware that somebody was seconding Hallett s mo- 
tion. This was a poor and scrambling performance, and 
had only the merit of being quickly done. Then the 
Speaker put the question, and then the Leader of the Oppo- 
sition stroke. 

Mr. Torbolton made a severe attack on the policy of the 
Government on all its lines. The girl could recognize by 
the sound and movement of the house that the attack was 
a heavy one, and told severely. Then there was a reply from 
the Ministerial side, delivered by Mr. Leeke, the Minister of 
Mines, into whose shoes it was said Frank Hallett was to 
step, and she was getting into rather a drowsy condition 
when suddenly the Ministerial speech came to an end, and 
in an instant she heard again the voice that had thrilled 
her at Goondi. She saw that a new speaker had arisen 
from the Opposition side, and bending eagerly forward she 
recognized the face and figure of Blake, and in another 
five minutes the girl had learned for the first time in her 
life the difference between a born debater and a man who 
makes a good speech. Blake’s voice sometimes fell to such 
subtle modulations that it seemed to caress the listening ear, 
and at other times rang out with the vibrating strength of 
passion, or hissed with the scornful tone of sarcasm. The 
assembly which had listened wuth such x)atient appj’oval to 
Hallett went wild over Blake. From the Ministerial side 
there came angry interruptions and contradictions. From 
the bench of the Opposition came bursts of enthusiastic 
cheers and shouts of delighted laughter. She hardly knew 
what it was all about, but she knew well enough that it was 
a vivid and pitiless attack upon the policy of the Govern- 
ment, and that the Ministers seemed to quail under its 
effect. 


IN THE LADIES' GALLERY. 


155 


Some member standing in the Ladies’ Gallery said to 
Lady Horace when Blake sat down, “Well, now, Lady 
Horace, whether we like it or whether we don’t, I think 
we must call that a great speech.” 

Sir James Garfit rose at once, thus paying the quite 
unusual tribute to Mr. Blake’s speech by rising at that 
period of the evening to reply to a new member. When 
the Premier began his speech, Elsie’s interest in the debate 
collapsed. 

Lord Horace, who was in the men’s gallery, separated 
from that in which his wife and Elsie sat, leaned excitedly 
over the railing. 

“I say, Elsie, Blake’s stunnin’. I wish it was our man. 
In the face of that there’s no use in consoling ourselves 
with the reflection that dear Frank is safe and respectable.” 

A little later Elsie knew almost without turning round 
that Blake had come into the gallery and was behind her. 
She turned to him in her quick, impulsive way, and said, 
“ Oh, why didn’t you tell me you could speak like that ?” 

“Didido it well, really?” 

“Yes, splendidly,” she said. “The House felt it. I 
never heard a real speech before.” 

“ I’m glad of that,” he said, quietly bending over her— 
“glad, that is, that you were pleased. I wanted to please 
you.” 

There was a short interval, in which the House emptied, 
and the party in the Ladies’ Gallery went out and snatched 
a short dinner at an hotel not far off. After they came 
back the debate droned dully on. Blake came up again, 
and lingered in the gallery. Most of the time he talked in 
whispers to Elsie, and more than once Lady Garflt turned 
angrily and frowned on him. 

It was now nine o’clock. 

“ I am sorry,” said Blake, “ that there is no terrace 
here, where I can ask you to come and have coffee.” 

“No terrace ? ” repeated Ina, vaguely. 

Lord Horace, who had caught the remark, looked an- 
noyed. “Blake means the terrace of the House of Com- 
11 


156 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


mons. Don’t ask Waveryng what it means, or he will 
think I have married a ” 

“ An Australian girl, w^ho doesn’t know anything about 
your fashionable London life,” put in Elsie hotly. “You 
had better prepare Lord and Lady Waveryng, Horace, for 
the depth of barbarism they’ll be plunged in here, other- 
wise they mightn’t survive the shock of an introduction to 
Ina and me.” 

“When do the Waveryngs arrive ?” asked Blake. 

“ Lady Stukeley told me at the Opening to-day that she 
had heard from my sister, and that they would very likely 
be here for the May ball. They are going to stay at 
Government House,” said Lord Horace, a little sulkily. 
He was annoyed because Lady Stukeley had not taken 
quite kindly to Ina, and that was Elsie’s fault, for Lady 
Gar fit had prejudiced the lady of Government House 
against these forward Australian belles. 

Elsie got up. At that moment Frank Hallett entered 
the gallery. She turned to him. “What is going to hap- 
pen ? I am tired, I want to get back ; Ina is tired, too. If 
Horace likes to stay, I daresay somebody will see us across 
the river.” 

“ I wish I could,” exclaimed Hallett, “ but Leeke is going 
to speak ; I ought not to leave the House.” 

“Since I am not so anxious to hear Mr. Leeke, Lady 
Horace, please let me take you to Fermoy’s,’’ said Blake. 

Lord Horace announced his intention of going to the 
club. It was Frank Hallett who escorted Ina dov;n the 
stairs. She turned her pale face to his with a sisterly smile. 
“ Frank, I haven’t had an opportunity of saying a word. 
You did speak splendidly.” 

“Thank you, Ina ; you don’t mind my calling you Ina 
just once, do you ? I feel horribly down to-night. I’m no- 
where beside Blake. He is the coming man.” 

“ Is it Elsie who has vexed you, Frank ? ” 

“ Oh, no ; not Elsie, not at least any more than usual. 
But she has altered somehow lately. Don’t you see it ? ” 

“Yes, I see it. But Elsie was always capricious.” 


AV THE LADIES^ GALLERY. 


157 


“You know I care for Elsie more ilian for anyone in 
this world, Ina,” 

“Yes, I know that.” 

“ Tm not jealous of Blake — not in the ordinary way. I 
^ have been keeping myself a little aloof from Elsie lately on 
I purpose. She has given me her promise that if her prince, 
as she puts it, doesn’t come along within a year, she will 
marry me ” 

“ Ah ! Elsie’s prince ! ” Ina laughed nervously. 

> “ Ina, a horrible fear has struck me these last days. Sup- 

, pose that Blake should turn out to be Elsie’s prince ? ” 
i “Oh ! no, no,” Ina cried. “I cannot bear that man. 
i. There’s something about him ; I can’t describe the feeling 
! he gives me. He is not true.” 

J “ He is good looking, and he is a gentleman ; and I be- 
i lieve, judging from his speech to-night, and the effect it has 
I' had, that he will very soon make a mark. I don’t know 
I anything against him. Why shouldn’t she marry him ? If 
f she is in love with him I shall not put myself forward, 
j I shall not stand in the way. I shall wish her happi- 
1 ness with all my heart, and I shall always remain her 
I friend.” 

I “ And yet you said that you had a horrible fear. You 
can’t help feeling as I do about Mr. Blake ? ” 

I “ Ah ! ” Frank cried, “ I am human, and I love her. It’s 
because of that that I want her to have her chance, and 
Blake, too. I won’t let myself think 111 of him, if I can help, 
I, but a fellow is a man after all, Ina.” 

They went out into the night. Minnie Pryde came be- 
side Lady Horace. “ I know that you two anyhow won’t 
be talking sentiment,” she said. “ I saw pretty soon that I 
had better make myself scarce, as far as the other two are 
concerned.” 

Ina and Frank both laughed discordantly. “ Oh, I for- 
got,” cried Miss Pryde. “ Don’t mind me, Mr. Hallett, and 
; look here, oughtn’t you to go back and listen to Mr. Leeke ? 
He had got up just as we left.” 

; Hallett bade good -night to Ina, and paused for a moment 


158 


OUTLA W AND LA W MAKER. 


to shake hands with Elsie. It seemed to him that she and 
Blake were lingering a good deal behind. 

“Good-night,” Elsie said sweetly, “ and please when you 
get into the Ministry, see that I have a place at the Open- 
ing.” 

They had got out of the lighted space round the House 
of Assembly, and were walking down a dim street bordered 
with houses and gardens, which led to the Ferry. On one 
side lay the Botanical Gardens. At the end of the road 
they had left, and beyond the House of Assembly, were the 
great gates of Government House with their flaring lamps. 
The heavy fragrance of datura blossoms weighted the air. 
Ina and Minnie Pryde walked on alone. 

“ Won’t you take my arm ? ” said Blake. 

She put her hand within his arm, and they walked on 
for a few moments in silence. He put his hand out and 
touched her cloak. Are you sure that you are warm 
enough ? the nights are beginning to he cold.” 

“ Yes,” said Elsie. There was an odd restrained tender- 
ness in his manner which set her pulses tingling. 

“Did you miss me to-day ?” he asked suddenly. 

“ Yes,” she answered. 

“ But you had your usual crowd, your verandah recep- 
tion, you didn’t want me ? ” 

Elsie did not reply for a minute. “ It was too early for 
my verandah reception,” she said coldly. “ No,” she ex- 
claimed presently in a*hard tone, “ I didn’t want you in the 
least. It was a day off, you know. I wasn’t playing the 
game. I hadn’t got to he thinking all the time of the next 
move.” 

“ The next move,” he said seriously, “ what is it to he ? 
We have gathered chucky-chuckies and sat on the boat- 
house steps, and danced, and sat out, and ridden, and done 
all the usual things that belong to the game of flirta- 
tion. There remains only one yet of the minor experi- 
ences.” 

“ The minor experiences ? ” 

“The experiences which belong to the initiatory stage of 


IN THE LADIES' GALLERY, I59 

flirtation. I have found you perfectly charming, horribly 
dangerous. I confess it.” 

Elsie turned her soft face towards him, and their eyes 
met. He could see by the faint light of a growing moon 
that she blushed. 

“Yes, horribly dangerous,” he repeated. 

“ What is the other experience ? ” she asked. 

“ A row by moonlight. I should prefer it with you alone, 
but I suppose the proprieties forbid. Shall it be Lady 
Horace or Miss Pryde who chapei\)ns us ? ” 

“ I will go for a row with you the next time you come in 
the evening. I am glad you warned me that it is part of 
the game.” 

They had reached the ferry steps. Miss Minnie Pryde 
called a fairly musical “0-o-ver.” The plash of the oars 
sounded nearer and nearer as the boat approached. Blake 
stepped on to the bow, and held out his hand to each of the 
ladies. One or two others were crossing as well. The stern 
was filled, and he took his seat in the bows. Several of the 
passengers were from Fermoy’s, and knew Lady Horace and 
her sister. The talk fell on the evening’s debate. Mr. An- 
derson, one of the young men, praised Hallett’s speech. 

“ I tell you what it is though. Lady Horace,” exclaimed 
another, “ that chap Blake beat him into fits. I say, can you 
tell me who he is ? They call him Monte Christo. He 
chucks half-sov^ereigns to the railway porters, and rides 
thoroughbreds fit for a king.” 

“ Oh ! hush ! ” murmured Ina faintly, and turned the con- 
versation with some rapid question. Blake had probably not 
heard the remark — at least so Elsie imagined. He sat still 
in the bow, looking like a Monte Christo indeed, only his 
eyes were tenderer surely, than those of Dumas’s hero. Elsie’s 
youn^ bosom fluttered. At last she was in the land of ro- 
mance. And yet there was a dim terror in the background 
of her maidenly satisfaction ; a terror of unknown forces 
which might at any moment break from their chain. 

When they had got out of the boat and mounted the 
ferry hill there was a halt. Fermoy’s lay in one direction. 


160 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Riverside in another. It was only a little walk to Riverside, 
and the sisters had often gone across the paddock alone. 
To-night Ina seemed particularly anxious that Elsie should 
wait at Fermoy’s for Lord Horace to escort her. 

“ Then I might wait all night,” said Miss Valliant. “ No, 
thank you, Ina, I shall go straight home, and you get to 
your bed.” 

“You will let me see you to your gate ? ” said Blake, in a 
low tone. Mr. Anderson stepped forward, entreating that 
he might be the favoured escort. Minnie Pryde, who lived 
quite at the end of the Point, had secured her own particular 
swain, who was also a lodger at Fermoys’. 

“ No,” said Elsie, firmly. “ Mr. Blake is going to take 
me, and you, please, look after my sister. Grood-night, Ina. 
Good-night, Minnie. Ina, I shall come down to-morrow and 
see how we are going to the Garfits’.” 

The* Garfit dance was to take place on the morrow. 

Elsie and Blake were alone in the soft scented night. 
Many of the eucalyptus in the paddock had been left stand- 
ing. Elsie said that they made lier think of the Bush and 
of the Luya. 

“And, perhaps, of your future home,” said Blake. 

“ Perhaps,” said Elsie coldly. “ If it is going to be my 
fate to marry a bushman.” 

“ Do you know what your fate ought to be ? ” said Blake. 
”You should marry a rich man, who would take you to 
Europe and place you in a position to which your beauty 
entitles you. You should have everything that the world 
can give to a beautiful woman. You should be caressed, 
flattered, feted, adorned, surrounded by every luxury, and 
set in a fitting frame.” 

Thank you,” said Elsie. “You draw a pleasant pic- 
ture.” 

“ But that will not be your fate,” Blake went on. “You 
will marry Prank Hallett, or another. You will never rise 
above the level of prosperous Australian Philistinism. You 
will never taste the finest aroma of romance and of enjoy- 
ment. You will never know the fascination of danger. 


IN THE LADIES' GALLERY. 


161 

You will never experience tlie subtle emotions which make 
one day better worth living than a lifetime.” 

“ Have you gone through all this ? ” 

“In part. Life has always been for me a drama. I 
started with the intention of getting all I could out of it. I 
think I have succeeded pretty well, though it has been as 
much bad as good. I don’t care in the least about life as 
life. But as I told you one day, there is something in me 
tierce and untamable, and I confess also morbid, which 
craves for some other outlet than that of the decorous Philis- 
tine routine.” 

“ And so you contrive to get that outlet ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ I can’t imagine how ! Surely not in the life I see you 
lead.” 

“ There are excitements even in the life which you see 
me lead,” he answered evasively. 

“ Such as this evening, for instance. But that can mean 
nothing. It must be easy for you to excel among such men 
as are in the Assembly here.” 

“You should not disparage them. The Governor was 
telling me that he has been deeply impressed by the 
ability and statesmanlike foresight of Sir James Garfit. 
Look, Miss Valliant ! Did you ever see the river so 
beautiful ? What would you not give to have a row to- 
night ? ” 

He pointed to the shining flood, flecked by the moon’s 
rays, and with the mysterious shadows of the bamboos on 
the opposite shore mirrored on its surface. 

“ If it had been the days when Ina and I were alone here, 
we should probably unmoor the boat and go.” 

“ May I not be Lady Horace for to-night ? ” 

“ Ah, Ina would not do it now. She has grown so staid 
since her marriage. Horace would tell her that it was not 
the sort of thing an English lady would do.” 

“Come.” He held open the wicket which led into the 
garden. The banana trees looked weird in the moonlight. 
The cottage was all dark. There was a light only in Mrs. 


162 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Valliant’s room. At the click of the gate, the casement was 
opened, and Mrs. Valliant said “Elsie?” 

“Yes, mother, I am coming presently. Mr. Blake has 
brought me home, and I have an irresistible longing just to 
go down to the boathouse and see the moonlight on the 
water.” 

“ Can’t you see it from the verandah?” said Mrs. Valliant 
weakly. 

Elsie laughed. “ Poor mother! I shall come presently, 
dear. You can’t think how hot and stuffy it was in the gal- 
lery. I couldn’t sleep if I Avent to bed now.” 

“ Oh, well! ” said Mrs. Valliant resignedly, and she closed 
the window. 

The whole proceeding struck Blake as amazing. The 
mother was more amazing than the daughter. He was 
still more astonished when, as they walked along the 
little path, Elsie turned to him, and said abruptly “ Good- 
night.” 

“ But you are not going in ? ” 

“No, but I don't want you. • Good-night.” 

“ But the river, and the row ? ” 

“ Good gracious! What do you think of me ? ” she cried, 
fiercely. “I understand you very well. You are playing 
your game. I am playing mine. Good-night.” 

She walked on, and disappeared among the bananas, 
without again turning her head. He heard her go down 
the steps. He heard the sound of the boat pushing off. 
He saw her a few minutes later seated with the oars, row- 
ing to the opposite side. It Avas quite bright enough for 
him to observe the grace of her movement, and the poise 
of her figure, and of her flower-like head upturned to the 
night. 

She was on the water about a quarter of an hour, long 
enough to row across and back again. She gave a start when 
she saw him standing just where she had left him. 

“Why didn’t you go home ? ” 

“Because I wanted to see that you got in without any 
harm coming to you. I couldn’t insist upon going Avitli you. 


‘‘iVZxVOiV; NINON, QUE JAIS TU BE LA VIEr 163 


but I could at least give myself the satisfaction of watching 
for you.” 

‘‘ Thank you.” She held out her hand. And then he saw 
that her eyes were wet, and that there was a great tear-drop 
on her cheek. 

“ Elsie ! ” he exclaimed. “ You have been crying ? ” 

“ Yes,” she cried recklessly, “ and do you know why — 
because I, too, have something in me that is fierce and un- 
tamable, and because I am not like you. I can find no out- 
let in my life.” 

She darted from him and ran into the house. He walked 
slowly back to Fermoy’s through the paddock. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

“NINON, NINON, QUE JAIS TU DE LA VIE.” 

Elsie wore at the Garfits’ the white dress that Blake had 
seen her stitching. She had copied it from an old print. It 
hung in soft folds to her feet, and she had a little frilled 
fichu of muslin knotted at her breast, and where it was 
knotted there was a big bunch of Parma violets, and she 
carried a large bouquet of violets in her hand. The violets 
had been sent to the cottage that morning. Elsie knew who 
had sent them, and perhaps the sending of the violets had 
something to do with her radiance. Everyone said that Elsie 
had never looked so beautiful. 

The Garfits had a large verandahed house some little way 
out of town on the North Side. They always gave pleasant 
parties. Sir James was a jovial red-faced person, who on 
these occasions dropped the cares of state as though they 
had been a garment. Rose was always amiable and ladylike, 
and Lady Garfit was at her best in her own house. 

Sir James was, however, on this evening more preoccu- 
pied than was usual with him. There had been another 
stormy debate that day. Mr. Torbolton, leader of the Oppo- 


164 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


sition, had been seen in the refreshment room in close con- 
clave with Blake. The talk ran that Blake’s speech had 
done more than anything to shake the Ministry. Sir James 
had given particular instructions to his womenkind that they 
should “ cotton up” to Blake. Blake was an enemy whom it 
might be well to conciliate. 

Lady Garfit, therefore, had arranged that Rose should 
dance the first dance with Blake. Rose was not an exhila- 
rating companion. Her conversation consisted mostly of 
remarks to the effect that Lady Stukeley was too sweet, and 
that the Prince was almost certain to be in Leichardt’s Town 
for the Birthnight Ball ; which — had Mr. Blake heard ? — 
was put off till the 12th of June on account of the uncer- 
tainty about the Prince. Lady Stukeley had told Lady Garfit 
that they were expecting a telegram every moment to fix the 
date. This was not deeply interesting to Blake. He fired a 
little when Miss Gaidit asked him if he did not think Miss 
Valliant looked lovely. It was such a pity that she was such 
a dreadful flirt, and got herself so talked about. 

Miss Garfit was getting up riding parties — they were to 
be Parliamentary riding parties — it was only on Wednes- 
days and Saturdays that the members were free. Would 
Mr. Blake join them, and had he that lovely horse, which 
Miss Valliant rode at the Tunimba races, in Leichardt’s 
Town ? 

‘‘ Yes,” but Blake made a bold shot. It had been prom- 
ised to Miss Valliant, and he — Blake — was bound to escort 
her. 

Oh, but Rose Garfit would be greatly pleased if Miss Val- 
liant and Lord and Lady Horace would join their riding- 
parties. Lord Horace was always amusing. Didn’t Mr. 
Blake think so ? 

No, Blake could not quite agree with her. He thought 
Lord Horace was a bit of a cub, and that his wife was much 
too good for him. The only decent member of that family 
was Lady Waveryng. 

Miss Garfit looked a little horrified at this familiar criti- 
cism. Had Mr. Blake known them in England ? > 


NINON, NINON, QUE JAIS TU BE LA VIEr 165 


No, not in England ; at least only by hearsay, and he 
changed the conversation with a compliment on Miss Gar- 
tifs dress. 

He got his opportunity at last with Elsie. There were 
certainly no traces of tears on her radiant face this evening. 
She lifted her bouquet. 

“Thank you ever so much. It goes so beautifully with 
my dress.” 

“ I have something to confess. I have committed per- 
jury for your sake.” 

“ For my sake ! ” 

“ I swore just now that the Outlaw was devoted to your 
service this winter, and that I was in duty bound to escort 
you. I think Miss Garfit wanted to borrow the Outlaw. 
She is getting up Parliamentary riding parties, and I be- 
lieve that she intends asking you and Lady Horace to join 
them.” 

“ Do you really mean that I am to ride the Outlaw ? ” 

“ If you will honour me so far. He is here, at your serv- 
ice, as I said. You have only to say when you want him 
sent over.” 

“ Horace has horses. I am sure Ina would like to ride. 
Mr. Blake.” 

“Yes, Miss Valliant.” 

“ Please forget what I said last night.” 

“ Once before, when you asked nie to forget something 
that you said, I told you that I could not promise to do that. 
But I’ll promise that I won’t remind you of it. Besides, 
you said nothing that was not altogether charming and 
womanly.” 

They were just going to join the dancers. Trant passed 
them with Minnie Pryde, and it seemed to Elsie that there 
was a meaning expression in his eyes. But she forgot all 
about Trant while she was dancing with Blake. Later on 
she had a waltz with him, and he complimented her on her 
dress and upon her violets. 

“ I know that Blake sent you that bouquet.” 

“ Yes, he did.” 


166 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ If I send you a bouquet one night, will you wear it ? ” 

“ Certainly, with pleasure, if it matches my dress, and it 
won’t be a matter of great difficulty to arrange that, for my 
dresses are not so various or so numerous.” 

“ You couldn’t have anything prettier than the one you 
are wearing to-night. Everyone is saying that you look 
lovely.” 

Trant’s conversation was this evening carried on in the 
strain of somewhat extravagant compliment. Perhaps Elsie 
was wanting in fine discrimination, anyhow she preferred 
it to his more tragic mood. She was having her fill of ad- 
miration just now. Prank Hallett was the only drawback 
to her enjoyment. He looked sad, she fancied, reproachful, 
and he did not very often ask her to dance, but devoted 
himself to Ina. “ Oh, why hadn’t he fallen in love with 
Ina ? ” Elsie said to herself. “ That would have settled 
everything and she would have suited him far better than I 
ever shall.” 

One of the riding parties came off. Before the second 
could take jplace the Ministry had gone out, and Mr. Tor- 
bolton had formed a new cabinet. 

It was no surprise to any one that Blake was offered an 
important place in it. Certainly to secure a seat in the 
Government, after having been in the House only a few 
weeks, was an achievement, but Mr. Torbolton was only too 
glad to gain such an acquisition to his ranks. 

The re-elections occasioned a temporary absence from 
town on the part of the new Ministers. Blake was, however, 
returned without a contest. 

And meanwhile the little whirligig went round. Elsie 
was very gay. She had several new admirers, and the 
verandah receptions became a feature of the day. Lord 
Horace started a four-in-hand, and was in boisterous spirits. 
Mrs. Allanby was usually on the box seat. Poor Ina looked 
paler than ever and more anxious ; but she was a loyal little 
creature and said nothing of her domestic trials, even to 
Elsie. During Blake’s absence at Goondi, Frank Hallett 


NINON^ QUE JAIS TU DE LA VIE:' 1(37 

came a little more to the fore, and was a frequent visitor at 
Riverside, hut he still kept to his line of not obtruding his 
love. One day Elsie asked him why he had so changed. 

“ I have not changed, and I shall never change,” he an- 
swered. “ I am alw^ays here — always ready to do anything 
you that want me to do. But you are quite free, Elsie, and' 
I wish you to feel so. It is not I who have changed.” 

“ Do you mean that I have changed ? ” 

“Yes, you have greatly changed, and I can only guess at 
the meaning of the change.” 

“ Tell me how I have changed,” she said. 

“You are restless, and your moods vary. Sometimes 
you look perfectly wretched ; at others wildly happy. You 
are a barometer, Elsie, and the influence which atfects your 
moods is Blake. You are expecting him now ? ” 

“Frank, you insult me.” 

“ I don’t want to. I think that you are under the spell 
of some evil enchantment. It is not wholesome honest love. 
That is why I am' patient, and why I feel certain that it will 
pass away.” 

“And then?” 

“ Oh then— then it may be my turn.” 

“ Frank, I deny everything. Mr. Blake and I are play- 
ing a game — that is the whole truth. We agreed to see 
which could hurt the other most.” 

“It seems to me a dangerous game, Elsie — and as you 
play it, not a very womanly one.” 

“ Dangerous ! Perhaps ; but for whom ? Do you think 
that I am going to let myself be beaten. He has hurt other 
women, he shall not hurt me. You think I am unwomanly 
because I flirt with him openly ; because I sit out dances 
with him, and allow myself to be talked about ; because my 
manner gives people some reason for saying that I am in 
love with him. Well, we shall see. When he asks me 
to marry him I shall refuse him, and all the world shall 
know it.” 

“ Elsie ! You are undignifled. I say again, you are un- 
womanly.” 


168 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“So Ina tells me. Y/ell, you can give me up. Frank, I 
sometimes think that there is an evil spirit in me, and that 
you are right— that I am under a spell. It’s true that I am 
eaten up by a demon of vanity, and selfishness, and reckless 
pride. I want to be first. I cannot bear that any man 
should get the better of me. It is horrid, I know it. Very 
well, but I am myself. I want to do something wild ; I 
want to feel, I want to know. Ah ! ” 

She gave a sudden start, and then drew back and kept 
very still, for at that moment Blake entered. 

They were spending the evening in Lady Horace's sit- 
ting-room at Fermoy’s. Lord Horace and some choice pals 
were in the verandah smoking. There was whiskey on the 
table. Ina was sewing, and Trant had just gone to the 
piano. 

He began his song as Blake came in, “ Ninon, Ninon, 
que fais tu de la vie,” and only nodded at the sight of his 
partner, and went on singing. It was a song that always 
affected Elsie curiously. Blake shook hands silently with 
Lady Horace, and seated liimself beside Elsie. Hallett 
moved away. 

When the song was over, Blake said, “ I came to tell 
Lord Horace that the Ullagong is signalled.” 

Ina, who had moved towards them, gave a little start, 
“ Then the Waveryngs will be here to-night.” 

‘‘Not to-night, Lady Horace,” said Blake, pitying her 
evident alarm — “ at least not till the small hours of the 
morning.” 

“ Oh ! do you think,” said Ina tremulously, “ that I need 
go with Horace to meet them ? ” 

“ No,” he said, “ why should you ? It will be far too 
early.” 

“lam so nervous about them,’’ said poor Ina, “and it 
may make a great difference to Horace their liking or dis- 
liking me. That is what Horace says.” 

Ina was off her balance, or she never would have so be- 
trayed herself. 

“ They are -quite sure to like you,” said Blake ; “ and you 


NINON, JSfINON, QUE JAIS TU BE LA VIE^ 1G9 


will like them. Lady Waveryng is a charming woman — 
kind and unaffected, and he is a good fellow.” 

“ Do you know them ? ” said Elsie, in surprise. 

“ T know all about them,” he answered. “ They will not 
know me, but some of my people live in Ireland near the 
Waveryngs.” 

“ Oh ! I know,” said Ina. “ Then you are one of the 
Blakes of Castle Coola ? Horace was wondering.” 

“I have relations in Ireland, and they live at Castle 
Coola,” answered Blake. “ That is bow" I come to know 
about the Waveryngs. But I would rather you didn’t talk 
about it. Lady Horace, if you don’t mind, though there is no 
particular secret. The fact is I wasn’t a credit to my family, 
and I left Ireland in disgrace, and have never had a word of 
communication with my people since. I am as dead to 
them as if I were dead in reality. ” 

Elsie looked at him in a startled, pained way. It was 
the first time she had ever heard him speak of his people in 
Ireland, or in any definite manner of his x)ast. Ina looked 
surprised, too, and a little pitiful. She was beginning to 
like Blake better than she had done at first. 

*“ You need not be afraid of my talking about what you 
have said, Mr. Blake,” she answered, “ I shall not even 
tell Horace if you would rather not.” 

“ Thank you, Lady Horace, certainly I would rather not. 
You are very good, and I am sure you are very loyal to your 
friends.” 

Ina flushed. “ I must let Horace know about the Ulla- 
gong,” she said. “ I hope he won’t go over to the North Side 
to-night.” 

She went out to. the verandah. Lord Horace was greatly 
excited at the prospect of his sister’s arrival, and declared he 
must start off to the North Side at once, and find out when the 
Ullagong would really be in. He said that he would stay at 
the club and beguile the time at billiards, and proposed that 
Hallett and Trant should accompany him. Trant accepted 
the invitation, and Ina cast an imploring glance at Hallett, 
who had not intended to go over yet. He changed his 


170 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


mind, however, when he saw that Elsie seconded Ina’s be- 
seeching look, and the three left together. The other men 
followed shortly. Blake remained chatting with Lady 
Horace and Elsie. He told them about his second Goondi 
election. They discussed his new post, and the responsibili- 
ties attaching to it. 

“ One very serious responsibility you will have, at least,” 
Ina said, laughing. “We shall blame you now, Mr. Blake, 
if Moonlight hails up any more coaches, or robs any gold 
escorts. Horace says that the police are in your department, 
and that you are now Captain Macpherson’s chief.*’ 

Blake laughed too, a little strangely Ina and Elsie 
thought. 

“ Yes, that is so. Odd, isn’t it ? Odd that I should have 
to sign the warrant against Moonlight, if it ever comes to 
that.” 

“ I hope it will never come to that,” said Elsie. “ I have 
a curious feeling about Moonlight ; I don’t know why. I 
want him to escape. I want him to go away and take his 
money with him and begin a new life.” 

“Perhaps,” said Blake, “that is what he means to do. 
Perhaps it is some grim fate which has pushed him into his 
evil ways ; some terrible necessity of his nature which 
makes the excitement of robbery and adventure an outlet 
for all his fiercer passions, and his better self may — for all 
you know. Miss Valliant— he struggling with the baser 
self, and urging him to flee temptation.” 

Something in his tone made Elsie look at him wonder- 
ingly. He seemed uneasy under her gaze, and got up rest- 
lessly, and with a forced laugh added : “It would hardly 
do to advance these theories, would it, in defence of Moon- 
light at a meeting of the Executive ? Miss Valliant, I see 
you making a move, may I be permitted to take you 
home ? ” 

“ Thank you,” Elsie said simply. “ I ought to go now, 
Ina dear, you should get to bed. Don’t bother about the 
Waveryngs. Leave them to Horace.” 

She kissed her sister, and presently she and Blake were 


“JVYiVOiV; NINON, QUE JAIS TU BE LA VIE^ I7l 

walking along the dim straggling street on their way to the 
Riverside paddock. 

They hardly spoke at first. At last he said abruptly, 
after some banal remark about Leichardt’s Town gaieties, 
“ Have you missed me ? ” 

“Yes,” she answered fearlessly. “And now tell me, 
have you missed me ? ” 

“ Oh, no— not in the least. I have only thought of you 
in almost every hour of daylight, and in some few hours 
during the night. I have only counted the days till I should 
get back to Leichardt’s Town and to you. Does that satisfy 
you ? ” 

She did not answer for a moment. Her heart was beat- 
ing wildly. Presently she said, “ Is this another move in 
the game ? ” 

“ If you take it so. I am going to ask you something, a 
great favour, will you pull me across to the other side and 
back again ? ” 

“Yes. Come.” 

She ran on a little in advance of him and reached the 
Riverside fence first. Instead of taking the path which led 
to the cottage, she went down another, through the banana 
plantation and to the river bank. The boat was lying at 
the steps. The tide was at full, and lapped the drooping 
branches of the chucky-chuckie tree with a caressing sound. 

Elsie threw off* her cloak and stepped into the boat, which 
she untied. She looked, he thought, like some nymph of 
Greek days in her white dress and with her slim, erect form 
and well poised head bare to the night. The stars shone 
brightly, and the sky was intensely clear. She motioned 
him to sit in the stern, and shook her head when he asked 
if he should take an oar, then pushed off into mid stream. 

Her strokes were long and vigorous. He watched with 
fascinated eyes the n)ovements of her lithe young body as 
she bent backwards and forwards to the oar. She never 
spoke a word, but rowed straight across and then turned 
and rowed him back again. 

“Now,” she said, “don't ever say that I made any fuss 
12 


172 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


about doing what you asked me. Give me credit for being 
courageous at any rate when you think of the way in which 
Lady Garfit would tear my character to shreds if she could 
see me now.” 

“ Elsie,” he exclaimed, “ I believe that for a man you 
loved you would brave any danger. I believe that you 
have it in you, and that you neither know yourself nor does 
your world know you.” 

She stooped to fasten the rope on the boat — they vrere on 
shore again now. When she answered it was in a serious 
and altered tone. 

“ No, I don’t think I have ever known myself. I am 
quite sure my world doesn’t know me. And I think you 
are right. I do think it is in me to brave danger for the 
sake of a man I loved. But then I never believed it was in 
me to love a man like that.” 

‘‘Ah ! ” he cried, “ you know it now, and it is I who have 
taught you. You love me.” 

They were walking up the little hill to the cottage. 
Both paused. She turned on him her big troubled star-like 
eyes. 

“Elsie,” he repeated, triumphantly. “I have won the 
game ; you love me.” 

He put out his arms and caught her to him in a wuld 
embrace. There was something almost brutal in his im- 
petuosity. He kissed her cheeks, her hair, and then her 
lips. Elsie had never dreamed of kisses so passionate and 
unrestrained. For a moment or two she yielded to his 
ardour, and then a swift and agonizing sense of humiliation 
overcame her. “ How dare you ! What right have you ? ” 
she cried — “ Oh, you are cruel, you are base ! ” 

She tore herself from him and he saw her no more. 


THE CLUB BALL. 


173 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE CLUB BALL. 

Elsie sobbed all night, the sobs of outraged maidenhood. 
He had conquered. She knew it too well. His kisses 
burned on her lips, and the burning was sweet agony. She 
loved him. But — and here came the hideous doubt— did he 
love her ? Had he only been amusing himself ? Had he 
only been revenging dead Jensen ? Oh, what concerns of 
his were this dead man’s wrongs ? Had he only been play- 
ing out the game at which he had challenged her skill ? 

If he loved her, she told herself, he would come on the 
morrow. He would come in proud humility, and ask her 
to forgive him, certain of her pardon. 

She heard the steamer bells as the Ullagong, with the 
Waveryngs on board, steamed up the river. She got up 
and looked out through the blur of her tears. It was grey 
dawn — the dawn she thought of her day of destiny. Would 
he come ? She determined that she would torture herself 
no more with speculations. She got up and dressed, and set 
herself savagely to her household tasks. 

It was perhaps fortunate that Mrs. Yalliant was too pre- 
occupied with the thought of the Waveryngs’ visit, and the 
effect it would have upon Ina, to notice the pale face and 
wild eyes of her eldest daughter. She could talk of nothing 
but Lady Waveryng. Would Ina meet her sister-in-law at 
the wharf ? Would she call at Government House that after- 
noon ? Lady Stukeley would now be obliged to take some 
notice of Ina’s family. It was she who suggested that Elsie 
should walk down to Fermoy’s and learn something of Ina’s 
arrangements. 

Lord Horace was in the verandah, talking excitedly to a 
plain, rather heavy, good-natured looking man, in a light 
tweed suit, and with something of the tourist air. The 
man’s eyes rested admiringly on Elsie as she stepped along 
the side path, not daring to look at any of the other windows 


m * 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


wliicli opened on to the verandah, lest, perchance, she 
might encounter Blake. But Blake was at his office, as be- 
fitted a new minister, anxious to learn his duties, and there 
was no need for that startled flush which caught Lord 
Wavcryng’s attention. 

‘‘ By Jove,’’ she heard him say, “ do they breed ’em like 
this out here ? ” 

“My wife’s sister. Miss Valliant,’’ said Horace, as she 
opened the gate of the verandah. “ Elsie, this is Waveryng. 
Brought ’em straight along to see Ina, in spite of the Stuke- 
leys.” 

“Lady Stukeley will understand perfectly,” said Lord 
Waveryng. “ Em made it straight. Of course Em wanted 
to see the new sister-in-law.” And thus Elsie gleaned that 
the Waveryngs meant to be nice. 

“ They’re bricks, ain’t they ?” said Horace aside. 

Ina was in the sitting-room, where a very trim, very 
handsome, very decided, and rather voluble lady had taken 
possession of her. Lady Waveryng was a beauty. She was 
very like her brother. Lord Horace, and had charming man- 
ners, though her once lovely complexion had got a little 
spoiled in the hunting field. Hunting and yachting were 
the two things she liked best in the world. Elsie heard her 
say she only wished their yacht had been big enough to go 
round the world in, but on the whole she wasn’t sure that 
she did not prefer ocean steamers ; and the passengers made 
it more amusing. They had had a perfectly lovely time in 
Ceylon. Singapore was so interesting, and the whole Torres 
Straits route delightful. 

“ And this is Elsie, I am sure,” and she got up as Elsie 
entered. 

“ Horace sent us your photograph with Ina’s, to show us 
how easy it was to fall in love with Australian girls.” 

Lady Waveryng shook Elsie’s hand warmly, and then 
she kissed Ina. 

They must fly. She did not know what the Stukeleys 
would say to her. And there was so much to be done. 
And she understood there was to be a ball that evening 


THE CLUB BALL. 


175 


somewhere, and her maid had been so upset with sea-sick- 
ness that she would have to go and do her own unpacking. 

They started off. Horace with them. Lady Waveryng 
kissed her hand as she turned the Ferry Hill, and walked 
along leaning on her silver-mounted stick, looking in her 
neat tailor-made dress and dainty hat, Elsie thought, un- 
approachably simple and thoroughbred. 

“ You see, Ina, you needn’t have been frightened of- 
them,” said Elsie. 

“They’re coming to the Dell,” said Ina. “They say 
that they’re longing to do some Bush travelling. Lady 
Waveryng wants to hunt kangaroos. She says I must call 
her ‘Em.’ We are to dine at Government House this 
evening — a family party ; and, oh ! Elsie, I am so sorry, but 
you’ll arrange to go with the Prydes or Mrs. Jem Hallett, 
won’t you, to the club ball, and wait for me in the cloak 
room ? ” 

“The Club Ball?” said Elsie. “Oh! I had forgotten.” 
And in truth her heart and mind had been too full for the 
thought even of a ball to find a place there. “ It doesn’t 
matter,” she said. “ Yes, I’ll arrange somehow.” 

“And your bouquet, Elsie,” said Ina. “Do you think 
Mr. Blake will send you one this time ?” 

“No,” exclaimed Elsie, almost fiercely — “he will not 
send me one. Why should he ? Let us go over to the 
gardens, Ina, and beg some azaleas and camellias from the 
curator.” 

She did not get back to Rivei’side till her verandah re- 
ception hour. She had a wild fancy that Blake might be 
there waiting for her. Ministers were not tied to their 
offices like the humble fry of civil servants and bank clerks. 
The bank clerks were there — and Dominic Trant was there, 
but no Blake. 

It was Trant who brought her a bouquet ; and a very 
beautiful one of tea roses and maidenhair fern and crimson 
double geranium. He had beon at some pains to find out 
from Lady Horace what Elsie’s colours were to be. 

No other bouquet had come, and she said she would wear 


17G 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


this one, and thanked him very prettily. He wondered 
what had happened to her, and why her manner was so 
strained and conscious. Man-like he attributed it to his 
own influence. Was it possible that he was beginning to 
affect her ? He had an immense faith in his power of 
influencing women. His dark eyes glowed passionately 
upon her face. To flirt with him at that moment was a 
distraction, and an anodyne to the fierce paiu which tor- 
mented her. She felt a wicked pleasure in playing with 
him as a cat might have played with a mouse. Yes, she 
would give him some dances. She would not say how 
many. They would wait until they were in the ball-room. 
What was it that he wanted to say to her ? If it was going to 
be anything very interesting and exciting she would listen 
with the greatest pleasure. She wanted to be amused, 
taken out of herself. Hid he think he could do that for 
her ?” 

‘‘ Yes,” Trant answered deliberately. He thought he 
could at least interest her. He would not promise not to 
offend her. Perhaps a little at first she might be jarred ; 
women were always jarred by what was real in a man. He 
meant to be his real self. 

Mr. Anderson and Minnie Pryde came in. Minnie was 
dju'ng to hear all about Lady Waveryng. 

They sat in the verandah till it was nearly dressing 
time. And no one else came. Blake never appeared. 

In the evening the Prydes called for her in the jingle — 
Minnie and her father, v/ho was in one of the Government 
offices— there was no Mrs. Pryde — and they drove round by 
the bridge and along the river embankment, till they got 
into the string of carriages waiting to pass towards the awn- 
ing stretched out from the entrance to the Club House. 
Tlie Club was a pretty low building, with wide verandahs 
and a big garden, gay with coloured lanterns. The covered 
way from the street was hung with flags, the ball-room 
looked very brilliant vflth its decorations of flaming poin- 
settia against a background of palms. Where had all the 
crimson flowers come from ? There was nothing else — gar- 


THE CLUB BALL. 


177 


lands of red geraniums and euphorbia and vivid pomegran- 
ate, deepening into the darker tones of the red camellias 
and azaleas and the great flags of poinsettia. Minnie Pryde 
bewailed her pink dress, which was quite out of harmony 
wdth the prevailing colouring. 

“ Oh, Elsie, how^ clever of you to find out w’hat they were 
going to decorate with ! ” she cried, looking admiringly at 
Elsie’s cloudy white gauze with its splashes of crimson at 
waist and bosom. Elsie’s cheeks were almost as bright as 
the crimson flowei’s, but the colour came and went, and 
there was a frightened look in her eyes. 

Frank Hallett, who was one of the stewards, was wait- 
ing near the doorway. 

“Your sister asked me to tell you not to wait in the 
cloakroom,” he said. “She may be late. We’ve been 
dining at Government House, you know, and Mr. Blake 
and I managed to get away before the rest, because of 
being stewards. Mrs. Jem will chaperon you till Iiia 
comes.” 

Mrs. Jem was gorgeous in maize and black lace, which 
suited her brunette colouring and her affectation of matron- 
hood. She had taken her place among the higher mag 
nates, and did not smile quite as sweet a welcome to 
poor pariah Elsie as Frank Hallett would have wished. 
But Mrs. Jem was wise in her generation, and she had a 
shrewd notion that Lord Waveryng would take to Elsie, 
and it was quite evident that Elsie’s position in Leichardt’s 
Town society would be somewhat changed by the Wa- 
veryngs’ stay at Government House, and the admission of 
Lady Horace into that inner circle from which she had been 
in her girlhood so rigorously excluded. 

“ Yes, lovely,” said Mrs. Jem, in answer to a remark of 
Lady Garfit’s. “ But you know I always said that Ina was 
so much better style, and the rouge is quite evident to-night. 
It is such a pity.” 

But even as she spoke Elsie’s cheeks belied the accusa- 
tion. The girl went deadly white for an instant, and then 
the crimson tide welled up again. Blake was coming to- 


178 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


wards them. There was not a shadow of consciousness in 
his manner. He stopped to salute Mrs. Jem and engage her 
for a set of Lancers. Yes, he had been dining at Govern- 
ment House. He had thought that Miss Valliant might be 
with Lady Horace. He bowed ceremoniously to Elsie. 
“How charming Lady Waveryng was, and how nice to see 
her so devoted already to Lady Horace; though of course 
she was certain to be that.” 

Was it Blake who was uttering these banalities ? Elsie 
waited. He had not yet asked her to dance. Trant was 
hovering near, watching her with jealous eyes, and now he 
pushed himself forward. “Miss Valliant, this is my 
dance.” 

Elsie looked at her card. It had got pretty well filled 
already, Frank Hallett’s name was down several times, 
and the Bank clerks had been given a sop apiece, and the 
more important dancing men — the unmarried members of 
the Assembly and some strangers from a neighbouring 
colony, had each set down their initials. But Elsie had kept 
some blanks, on which she had placed a hieroglyph of her 
own. “ No, you have made a mistake. It is the next one. 
This is a galop. They are not keeping to the programme.” 

“Oh, they won’t do that until the great people come,” 
said Blake. “ And here they are, and we stewards must go 
and receive them.” 

The band struck up “God save the Queen.” There was 
a little confusion at the entrance, and presently the Gov- 
ernor’s fine head appeared above the blue collar of his uni- 
formand Lady Waveryng’s tiara of diamonds at his shouldei^. 
“ How handsome she is, and how like Lord Horace ! ” 
murmured Mrs. Jem. The Leichardtstonians wondered 
that they had not thought more of Lord Horace, and a pang’ 
shot through Lady Garfit. Oh, why hadn’t she managed 
to marry him to Rose ! Lady Waver jmg’s diamonds and 
aristocratic head seemed the visible symbol of poor little 
Ina Gage’s unmerited social advancement. Lady Waveryng 
had an air and an aplomb that could only belong to an 
aristocrat. And she was so simple and so unaffected, and 


THE CLUB BALL. 


179 


looked about with such evident interest, pointing to the 
poinsettia leaves, and saying something to Blake as she 
passed him, that produced a bow of evident acknowledg- 
ment of a compliment on the taste of the stewards. Lady 
Waveryng’s eyes went back to Blake in a puzzled sort of 
way. “ Do you know who he is, and if he belongs to the 
Castle Coola people ? ” she said to the Governor. “ I can’t 
get rid of the impression that I know his face. But I don’t 
know which of the Coola people he could be. All the 
bl’others are dead.” 

Sir Theophilus Stukeley did not know. He had never 
met any of the Castle Coola people; always avoided Ireland, 
and thanked Providence that he had not been born an Irish 
landlord. 

Lady Waveryng laughed. “Oh, but the Coolas are of 
the landlord type — the rough Tories; at least Lord Coola 
is at any rate. Waveryng has some fishing near them, and 
that’s how I came to know them. But he has ail the tradi- 
tions. It’s so sad that all the sons are dead, and the property 
must go to some dreadful English lawyer, whom one of 
the daughters married. It seems quite out of keeping 
that the Castle, Banshee and all, should go into Sassenach 
hands. Oh! Mr. Blake, I beg your pardon.” She became 
suddenly conscious that Blake was close to her, and that he 
was devouring what she said. “ I am sure you are one of 
the Coola people, aren't you ? Please tell me are you re- 
lated to Lord Coola ? ” 

“ In a hundredth degree,” he answered. “ All the Blakes, 
I suppose, came originally from the Coola stock.” He 
withdrew reflecting that he had involved himself in compli- 
cations. 

The Governor and Lady Waveryng went to the upper 
end of the room. Lord Waveryng had Lady Stukeley on 
his arm. Ina came in with the aide-de-camp, and Lord Hor- 
ace with the private secretary’s wife. 

“ By Jove, that sister-in-law of Horace’s beats them all 
to fits,” said Lord Waveryng. “I am going to ask her if 
she will dance with me.” He led Elsie out for the first 


180 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


waltz after the state quadrille, in which imposing ceremonial 
she had naturally no place. He found her very charming, 
so he confided to his wife, and with a delightful sense of 
humour. She had asked him liow he and Lady Waveryng 
bore the shock of the introduction to Horace’s barbarians. 
She had also informed him that lords and lesser members 
of the aristocracy were at a discount on the diggings, and 
they had never been able to get up a sufficient sense of the 
honour to wdiich Ina had been raised. She thought, how- 
ever, that acquaintance with Lord Waveryng might now 
enable them to realize their advantages. She said all this 
with grave simplicity, looking into Lord Waveryng’s face 
with her beautiful, shy eyes, always keeping that expression 
of vague pain and alarm. 

All this time Blake had never asked her to dance. He 
had danced with Lady Waveryng, wdth Ina, with Hose Gar- 
fit. He had smiled at her in an absolutely conventional 
manner when their eyes met, but he had never shown the 
least desire for any private conversation. What did it all 
mean ? Had he been mad last night ? Had she been mad 
or dreaming ? Or was it merely that the game w^as played, 
and that he wished her to understand this, and that her 
claims upon his attention were at an end. 

Well, he should see that she did not care. She smiled 
upon Trant with reckless witchery, and let him take her into 
the square of garden behind the Club House — a dim patch 
of fairyland — palms outlined against the pale moonlit sky, 
coloured lamps hanging on the fantastic branches of the 
monkey trees and gleaming in thickets of bamboos. The 
bamboos made a soft rustling in the night wind. The da- 
tura flowers scented the air with their heavy fragrance. 
There were little tents here and there, and cane lounges, 
with bright red cushions set in secluded corners. 

To one of these Trant led her. Her shoulders were bare, 
and she shivered slightly as he came close to her. “It is 
too cold to be out in the garden,” she said. 

“ Cold ; no, not in the least. But see how thoughtful I 
have been.” 


THE CLUB BALL. 


181 


He lifted his arm and showed her a white wrap which he 
had been carrying half concealed by her bouquet. He had 
asked permission to hold that for her while she had finished 
her dance with Mr. Anderson. 

“ It is Ina’s,” said Elsie. “ Thank you.” 

He put it on her shoulders. She took her bouquet from 
him. “ Thank you,” she said again. “ I don’t think there's 
anything you can do for me except amuse me.” 

‘‘I shall not amuse you,” he answered, “I am too deadly 
serious for that.” 

“ Deadly seriousness may be amusing sometimes. Go on, 
Mr. Trant. Talk— talk ” 

“ What shall I talk about — you or myself ? ” 

“ Or both. Do you like my dress ? Do you think I look 
nice ? ” 

“You look beautiful,” he said deliberately. “ Every time 
I look at you I — I want to kiss you.” 

She shrank — “Don’t please talk like that.” 

“ I said I should jar upon you if I allowed myself to be 
real, didn’t I ? That’s what I really feel though. I want all 
the time to take you in my arms, and cover you with kisses. 
I would do it too — if ” 

She got up. “ Please take me in. I don’t like you when 
you say wuld things.” 

“Don’t be afraid. I have too much respect for you to 
offend. Besides my time isn’t yet. When I kiss you it shall 
be with your permission — unless ” 

“Unless v/hat ? ” 

“ Unless I see that you will never freely give me permis- 
sion. Then I shall take it. But I do things in a big way. 
Miss Valliant — not in a hole-and-corner fashion. It wouldn’t 
suit me to snatch a kiss in a garden, and see you go off in a 
fit of indignation, thinking me an odious cad. You wouldn’t 
think me a cad if I seized a kiss in some wild lonely place, 
with not a soul in earshot; a place like Barolin Waterfall, 
let us say, where you would be utterly helpless, and at my 
mercy. There’d be something big about that. You’d be too 
frightened to tell yom’self I was a cad. You’d be frightened 


182 


OUTLA W AMD LA W MAKER. 


enough almost to imagine me a hero. And then, perhaps, 
I shouldn’t take the kiss. Perhaps I should act a chivalrous 
part, and in the end, maybe you would give it to me of your 
own accord,” 

Elsie laughed. There was something in his wooing that, 
rough as it was, appealed to her. Instead of moving away, 
she sat down again, and leaned a little towards him, huddled 
in her cloak. 

“Well,” he said, “I am beginning to interest you, am I 
not ? I know exactly what sort of a woman you are. I 
think a man might have a chance with you, if he carried 
you off by force. Elsie, listen ” 

She shook her head, and made a gesture of rebuke. 

“Yes, I shall call you Elsie, this once. Elsie, Elsie. It is 
a beautiful name. I delight in the name. Elsie. I say it 
to myself when I am alone, I kiss you in imagination when 
I am alone. Elsie, I love you.” 

“ Mr. Trant ” 

“You can’t prevent me from loving you ; I have the right 
to do so, just as much as Blake; only he doesn’t love any 
woman, he is not capable of loving anybody but him- 
self ” 

Elsie gave a little inarticulate cry of pain. 

“ Something happened last night between you and Blake. 
Oh, I know it as well as if you or he had told me. I haven’t 
been with Blake all these years for nothing. I know the 
signs of his face. I know what it means when he puts on 
that sort of mask he is wearing to-night. It means that the 
devil is in him, and that he will go his way come what will. 
Don’t be his victim, Miss Valliant. It’s for your own good 
I say it; don’t believe in Blake.” 

Elsie turned on him, her face quivering with passionate 
anger. 

“Be silent on this subject; say what you choose about 
yourself. That doesn’t matter. It’s only amusing, it in- 
terests me in a way. But don’t insult me by mentioning 
Mr. Blake’s name in connection with mine. I will not 
have it.” 


THE CLUB BALL. 


183 


“Very well. But I have warned you. And I have as 
good a right to make love to you as Mr. Frank Hallett, and 
that according to Leichardt’s Town gossip means a good 
deal, if, as they say, you were engaged to him before Blake 
came on the scene. There, I am offending again. WeTl 
leave Blake out of the question.” 

“ I was never engaged to Mr. Frank Hallett. Now you 
have said what you wanted to say, and there is an end. 
You are quite right, no one could prevent you. But when 
I have given you my answer, the incident will be closed, as 
they say.” 

“ I haven’t asked you for an answer,” he said, impertur- 
bably. “ I don’t want to close the incident. I intend to 
open it again. I love you, and I mean to marry you.” 

Elsie laughed nervously. “Really, Mr. Trant! Am I 
not to have a voice in the matter ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, later on. But you must get accustomed to the 
idea. I’m not a poor man. Miss Valliant. It may be as well 
that I should mention this, and I intend very shortly to cut 
this life— for good and all. I have had enough of it. I 
propose in a few months to leave Australia, and to take my 
money out of the place. I shall not have done such a 
bad thing out of Australia—’* Trant laughed his odd 
laugh~“ and then I shall go to Europe and I shall enjoy 
life.” 

“I am glad to hear it.” 

“I shall be in a position to give my wife most of the 
things that a woman likes— travel, amusement, society, dress, 
luxuries, and what ought to count a little, unbounded devo- 
tion. That does count for something with a woman, doesn’t 
' it ? ” 

I “ It depends ou who offers it.” 

i “I’m not such an odiously unattractive fellow — at least 
; I’ve managed to make some women care for me. I know^ I 
I could make you care for me, if I set to work in the right 
I way. Anyhow I mean to try.” 

i “It will be no use at all, Mr. Trant. It will be only 
1 waste of time.” 


184 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ We shall see. I think you will have to admit later that 
I am a man of determination.” 

“Miss Valliant, I have been looking for you everywhere. 
This is our dance.” 

The speaker was Lord Waveryng. Elsie got up and took 
his arm, and they went into the ball-room. 


CHAPTER XX. 

LORD ASTAR’S attentions 

As they went in from the dim garden and through the 
verandah, which was like a conservatory, with its decora- 
tions of palms, Elsie’s dazzled eyes seemed to see in the glare 
of the ball-room beyond, only one face and form, and those 
belonged to Blake. 

He was standing close to the doorway. Elsie wondered 
whether he would move away when he saw her, but he 
turned straight to them. But Elsie noticed that he kept his 
eyes on Lord Waveryng, and she noticed, too, an odd watch- 
ful expression in the eyes that she had never seen there 
before. Lord Waveryng spoke a word to him. He, too, 
kept his eyes with a hard puzzled stare on Blake. He said 
“You see we weren’t so long behind yon in getting here 
after all. But old Stukeley is hard to move, when it’s a 
case of Mouton Rothschild ’68 — capital wine that — not 
damaged in the least by the voyage.” 

“Not damaged at all,” rei)lied Blake in a mechanical 
tone. 

“I say,” said Lord Waveryng, abruptly, “do you happen 
to remember what Lafitte Coola used to give us at the Castle 
on high days ? ” 

Blake returned the look which Lord Waveryng gave him 
quite unflinchiiigly. 

“ No, I don’t remember,” he said, and turned to Elsie. 
“ Miss Valliant, I am afraid I am rather late in my applica- 


LORD A STAR'S ATTENTIONS. 


185 


tion, but I must plead my steward’s duties as a claim on 
your mercy. May I hope for the honour of a dance ? ” 

Elsie’s heart throbbed so violently that she instinctively 
put the hand which her bouquet shielded against her side. 
She dared not look at him. The thought of the wild scene 
of the night before maddened her almost into fury. What 
right had he ? how dared he think that he could trifle with 
her so ? 

“ I am sorry,” she said, and her words fell like drops of 
steel. “ But I am engaged for every dance.” 

Blake said nothing. He only bowed, and Lord Waver- 
yng put his arm round Elsie, and steered her into the dance. 

“I can see,” he said when they paused presently, “that 
Mr. Blake is not quite in your good books. I wonder how 
he has offended you.” 

“ Oh, no,” said Elsie, trying to speak calmly, “ he has not 
offended me, but of course at this time in the evening I have 
no dances left.” 

“I would give a good deal,” said I^ord Waveryng, “for 
the cheek to ask that man whether he is Morres Blake come 
to life again. I think I shall do it by-and-bye.” 

“ Who is Morres Blake ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ Lord Coola’s brother, a fellow that fell over a cliff, and 
was carried out to sea and drowned ; at least, so they said. 
But you see somebody might have picked him up, and he 
might not have been drowned ; and what gives the theory 
a spark of probability is that Blake would have been had up 
to a certainty on a charge of inciting his regiment to Fenian- 
ism if he had not got killed at the nick of time for his family, 
and for his own reputation, we won’t say his life, since if he 
was drowned, he lost that anyhow.” 

“ Ah ! ” Elsie drew a deep breath. Things seemed to 
suddenly become clear to her. 

“ It must be ten or twelve years ago,” Lord Waveryng 
went on. “I met Blake, the Morres Blake you know, twice 
at Castle Coola, and I don’t often forget a face. In fact I’ve 
got an astonishing memory for faces, Miss Valliant. I 
ought to have been a Royalty.” 


188 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


They went on again. In the next pause Lord Waveryng 
talked of Lord Horace. “ I’m going up to see the Dell,” he 
said. “ I hear Horace’s works have come to a dead stop for 
want of funds. Well, if he is likely to keep out of mischief 
— and he ought to with such a charming wife — I might see 
if I couldn’t do something. He is my wufe’s favourite 
brather, though I can’t say I ever had a great opinion my- 
self of Horace’s capabilities, but he is a good-hearted chap, 
. and I had a lucky haul with the Two Thousand. I suppose 
you know that I go in for racing a bit. Miss Valliant ; and 
I might give Horace a helping hand. He’ll not get another 
penny from his father.” 

For Ina’s sake Elsie rejoiced at Lord Waveryng’s benevo- 
lent intentions, and thought how pleased her mother would 
be to hear of the excellent impression Ina had made. That 
was very evident. Lady Waveryng was sitting now beside 
her sister-in-law, and they were on the most affectionate 
terms. 

Frank Hallett came next on the list of Elsie’s partners. 
“ Why are you not dancing with Blake this evening ? ” he 
asked abruptly. 

“ I don’t know,” said Elsie simply, and it hurt him to 
hear the note of pain in her voice. “ Frank,” she said hur- 
riedly, ‘‘ please don’t talk to me about Mr. Blake. Let us 
talk of other things — of how I am enjoying myself, for in- 
stance.” 

‘‘ Are you enjoying yourself, Elsie ? ” 

“ Of course I am. I have had a success. Every one has 
been telling me that I look very well. Lord Waveryng has 
been charming. I have been honoured by an offer of mar- 
riage.” She laughed hysterically. 

“ An offer of marriage ? ” he said anxiously. 

“ I did not accept it.” She still laughed — “ But it rvas — 
exciting. Come, Frank, don’t let us lose any of this lovely 
waltz. I am in wild spirits to-night.” 

Poor Elsie ! And yet when she went into the cloak room 
in the early dawn it seemed to her as though her heart must 
break; so agonizing was the pain of it. All the pretty 


LORD A8TAKS ATTENTIONS. 


187 


colour had gone from her face. As she stood in the corridor 
waiting for the jingle which was to take them over the 
bridge to Fermoy’s, she looked like a ghost with wild eyes. 

‘‘Are you very tired, Miss Valliant ?” said Blake, sud- 
denly, beside her. 

She gave a great start. He was still impassive. “Yes, 
very tired,” she answered. 

“ Have you had a pleasant evening ? ” he asked, in the 
same tone. 

“ Yes, thank you,” she answered. She lifted her eyes, 
which had not dared to meet his. They met them now, and 
something in the expression of his eased her pain. For 
there was pain, too, in his eyes, and a great yearning. 

“Mr. Blake,” she exclaimed involuntarily, .and made a 
faint movement of her hand towards him. He put out his 
hand, and took hers. “ Good-night, Miss Valliant,” he said ; 
“ do you see that faint red streak in the sky, and do you 
know that in another hour it will be sunrise ? Sleep well, 

and when you wake, don’t ” he hesitated, and pressed 

her hand as he relinquished it. “ Try not to think too 
hardly of me.” 

The girl said not a word. She moved proudly past him. 
“ Ina, I am sure the carriage is there,” she said, and at that 
moment Lord Horace came crossly to them. Lord Horace 
had taken a little more champagne than was good for him. 
“ What an infernal time you have been with your cloaks 1 ” 
he said. ‘‘ Come along, I can’t see the thing, and we may 
wait here till Doomsday for it to fetch us. Come and 
get into the first jingle we can find that will, take us to the 
ferry. We can walk the rest” of the way.” 

A few minutes later Blake stood on the steps of the Club- 
house lighting his cigar. He was going to walk to the 
ferry. Lord Waveryng joined him. 

“You are going to walk, I see. So am I, and our ways 
lie together as far as the turning to Government House.” 

The two men stepped out into the fresh scented air of the 
early morning. There were faint sounds of awakening 
birds and insects, and the greyness was so clear that the 
13 


188 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


colour of the hegouias, which festooned some of the veran- 
dahs along the roadway, showed curiously brilliant. They 
exchanged a few commonplace remarks about the scenery, 
the vegetation, and the beauty of the river. Then Lord 
Waveryng halted suddenly, and turned on his companion 
deliberately, taking his cigar from his mouth. 

‘‘ I think I ought to tell you,” he said, “ that I never for- 
get a face, and that I recognized you almost as soon as I 
heard your name this evening. I presume you have good 
reasons for not wishing to be identified as Captain Morres 
Blake, of the ?” 

“ I have the best reasons that man can have,” said Blake. 
“ Lord Waveryng, ITl be as frank with you as you are with 
me, and you know my reasons almost as well as I do.” 

‘‘It’s twelve years ago,” said Lord Waver3^ng. “and 
things have changed a good deal since then. This Parlia- 
mentary movement has made a difierence. I don’t suppose 
the authorities would want to rake up that business. The 
reason why I tackled you at once is that I don’t know 
whether you know that Lord Coola’s two boys died of diph- 
theria last year, and that you stand next in succession to 
Coola.” 

“ No,” said Blake, startled. “ I did not know it, and I am 
truly sorry.” 

“It is worth your thinking about,” said Lord Waveryng. 
“I thought I had better tell you.” 

Blake was silent for a few moments. At last he spoke. 
“ There were four lives between me and Coola when — when 
I left Ireland, and there seemed a probability of several 
more. It was not to be supposed that my brother would 
not marry again after Lady Coola’s death ; and who could 
have dreamed that my brother William would have been 
carried off so young — and now these boys ! Poor chaps ! 
It is like fatality.” 

“Yes,” assented Lord Waverjmg, “seems like a fatality,' 
don’t it ? Anyhow you may be the next Lord Coola.” 

“ Coola will marry again now,” said Blake, decidedly. 
“He is bound to do it.” 


LORD A STAR'S ATTENTIONS. 


189 


“ I don’t think he will,” said Lord Waveryng. “ He be- 
lieves in his first wife’s ghost. It’s a kind of mania. You 
Blakes are all a little queer, you know.” 

“ Yes, I know very well,” answered Morres Blake, bitterly. 
“ It’s in the blood. That queerness is responsible for a good 
deal.” 

Lord Waverying looked at him keenly. “ Yoit are sane 
enough,” he said. 

“ Am I ! ” cried Blake, passionately. “ I’m mad. I tell 
you — m ad — m ad. ” 

“ You were mad when you threw your chances away, 
and went in for that Fenian business ; but it was the aberra- 
tion of youth. They tell me that you make a good colonial 
politician. Curious, isn’t it, when one comes to think of it, 
that you should be Colonial Secretary of Leichardt’s Land.” 

Blake laughed strangely. Again there was silence. 

The men walked on, puffing their cigars. They had 
reached the place where the street divided into two, one 
leading to the ferry, the other past the Houses of Parlia- 
ment to the great gates of Government House. Here they 
paused. 

“Lord Waveryng,” Blake said impulsively, “I trust 
you.” 

“ I never betrayed confidence in my life,” said the other 
— “ at least I hope not, willingly. If you wish to be thought 
dead, why as far as I am concerned you are dead. But I 
think you make a mistake in not facing the music.” 

They shook hands and parted. But Blake did not go 
straight to Fermoy’s. 

Careless of what might be thought of him, he walked on 
through the paddock in which Riverside Cottage stood. He 
looked wistfully at the little closed up house and at the 
verandah in which was Elsie’s chair, and where her work- 
basket still lay on the rough table. He was only driven 
away by the sight of Peter the Kanaka up betimes to gather 
rosellas for the shop on the Point, which bought such garden 
stuff as the widow had to dispose of. He slipped down 
among the lantaerna shrubs that grew close to the garden 


190 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


fence, and made his way back by a circuitous, but less public 
track, along the river bank to Fermoy’s. 

During the days that followed the Club ball, Elsie Val- 
liant’s mental and moral condition might have been expressed 
in the plaint of Mariana, though, to be sure, the outward 
circumstances of her life were very different from those of 
the lady of the Moated Grange. Life at Leichardt’s Town 
was at high pressure. Life at Riverside Cottage was at high 
pressure too. The verandah receptions were more brilliant 
and more sought after than ever, and gained eclat from the 
presence of the Waveryngs and an admixture of the Gov- 
ernment House set not certainly in the persons of Sir 
Theophilus and Lady Stukeley, but in the shape of the aide- 
de-camp and i)rivate secretary, and of the more or less dis- 
tinguished strangers who frequented Government House at 
this time.' There was always some bustle of coming and 
going, of flirtation, or of making ready for flirtation. But 
still Blake came not. 

They met often, and yet not so often as would have been 
the case a month before. It seemed to Elsie that Blake 
avoided all the informal parties which once, for the sake of 
a waltz or talk with her, he had welcomed so eagerly. And 
at the more ceremonious functions, there was an excuse for 
the formal nature of their intercourse. Naturally at the 
public balls and at the Government House at Homes it was 
not to be supposed that the Colonial Secretary could devote 
himself exclusively to one pretty girl. Blake paid attention 
to a few of the Leichardt’s Town young ladies, and to Elsie 
there was in this fact a faint consolation. At any rate she 
could not feel jealous of Mrs. Torbolton, or of the wife of 
the Minister forW^orks, or even of Lady W^a very ng, who 
declared herself charmed with Blake, and made him into a 
sort of cicerone. But in truth the girl’s own being was torn 
in tatters. Wounded pride, love, the sense of humiliation, 
and insult, made her days an anguish and her nights a 
terror. And yet she laughed all the time, and she flirted 
with everybody and made herself into a very scorn of 


LORD ASTAR8 ATTENTIONS. 


191 

Leichard’s Town matrons by reason of her unblushing 
levity. 

Just at this time one of the younger of the Eoyal Princes, 
who was making a tour of the Colonies, paid a long-ex- 
pected week’s visit to Leichardt’s Town, and the occasion 
was one of wild excitement and of enthusiastic demonstra- 
tion of Antipodean loyalty. Elsie had the satisfaction of 
seeing Blake in official capacity, taking part in the various 
pageants, as one of the committee of reception ; and in spite 
of her misery and her anger against him, she felt a savage 
pride in the manner in which he acquitted himself. She 
was at the great ceremony of the landing, and at the Mayor’s 
ball, at the School of Arts, in the evening. She was also at 
the races, at which one or two of the horses which had ex- 
ploited at Tunimba ran, with less credit to themselves and 
their owners ; she w^as at the picnic in the Government 
steamer, in which the Prince w^as shown the bay and the 
islands ; and at all the functions for which Frank Hallett's 
efforts and the reflected glory of the Waveryngs secured her 
a place. It w^as all very brilliant, and she had her fill of 
admiration. The Prince was greatly taken by her beauty, 
and danced with her so often as to fill his guardians with a 
half amused alarm. Perhaps this was why Lord Astar, one 
of the Prince’s suite, made violent love to Elsie, and short of 
absolutely proposing marriage, did everything which could 
be expected from a suitor for her hand. Lord Astar found 
the verandah receptions very much to his taste, and on the 
days when he was off duty during the latter part of the 
Prince’s visit, might usually be seen seated at Elsie’s feet, 
w'ith his legs dangling over the edge of the Riverside veran- 
dah in the most approved colonial fashion, or else lounging 
on the steps that, led to the boat-house, another favourite 
scene for Elsie’s flirtations. The Prince would have liked 
to take part also in Elsie's verandah receptions, but on this 
point the Stukeleys and the noble Admiral who had him in 
charge were inexorable. 

Lord Astar was amusing, and clever, and fascinating, 
and he was very much a man of the world. Elsie had 


192 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


never met anyone of liis type, though since the arrival of 
the Waveryngs her experience of the English aristocracy 
had extended somewhat beyond her brother-in-law. It 
struck her that Lord Astar’s type was most nearly ap- 
proached by Morres Blake in his lighter moods. Certainly 
nothing more widely removed from the type could be con- 
ceived than Frank Hallett. 

It may have been with some wild idea of making Blake 
jealous that Elsie flirted so desperately with Lord Astar. 
All Leichardt’s Town — that is, the portion of it which con- 
stituted society — remarked her behaviour on the day of the 
races. They were in the grand stand. Ina and her hus- 
band in that portion which was railed off for the Grovern- 
ment House party and the higher officials, but Elsie with 
the Prydes in a less exalted position. She was looking 
lovely in a grey dress with soft lace at the neck and a be- 
witching bonnet made out of the breast of an Australian 
bird. Lord Astar admired her dress, and Elsie told him 
that she had sat up all the night before to flnish it. She 
also informed him that the bonnet, or at least the bird which 
composed it, had been a present from King Tommy, of 
Yoolaman. 

“And so the Prince is not your only royal admirer,” 
said Lord Astar. “Are lower mortals privileged to lay 
tributes of loyalty at your feet ? ” 

As he spoke, Elsie became suddenly aware that Blake 
was passing along the gangway behind her chair. She felt 
that he stopped, knew instinctively that he had heard Lord 
Astar’s speech, and was w^aiting for her reply. A demon of 
recklessness seized her, she looked coquettishly up at Lord 
Astar and answered very distinctly, “ Certainly. Tributes 
are always welcome.” 

“ Miss Valliant,” Blake’s incisive tones seemed to cut the 
air, “ Lady Horace has gone down to the saddling paddock, 
and she asked me to bring you to her.” 

Elsie started. Blake moved a chair beside her. 

“ You will come ? ” His eyes were full upon her. 

She rose obediently ; it would have been impossible for 


LORD ASTARS ATTENTIONS. 193 

her to disobey the mandate of those eyes. Lord Astar bowed 
aiid made way for her. 

“ I shall not forget,” he said very low. 

Blake piloted her down the stairs of the grand stand. 
When they stood on the lawn, he turned and said deliber- 
ately, “ Lady Horace is not in the saddling paddock. I 
don’t know in the least where she is, and she did not send 
me for you. I brought you here to tell you that you must 
not accept presents from Lord Astar.” 

“ Surely,” said Elsie, bitterly, “ that can be of very little 
consequence to you.” 

“ No, it is not of consequence to me,” he answered, “ but 
it is of consequence to yourself. I know Lord Astar. I kuow 
the sort of reputation he has in regard to women. You com- 
promise your reputation by allowing him to pay you the at- 
tentions which have been making you so conspicuous these 
last few days. Please take my word for this. He is a more 
dangerous opponent in the game which we have been play- 
ing than I have been. Don’t play that game with him ; the 
consequences may be disagreeable.” 

“ In what way ? ” 

“ In this — Astar is quite capable of insulting a woman 
who places herself in a false position.” 

“ And you,” she cried passionately, ‘‘ have you not shown 
yourself capable of insulting a woman who was fool enough 
to place herself at your mercy ? ” 

He turned very pale. An impetuous answer rose to 
his lips. He uttered one vehement word and checked 
himself. 

‘‘ I beg your pardon,” he said, ‘‘ I have nothing else to 
say. I have no justification for the impulse that made me 
take you in my arms that night. I can only ask you to be- 
lieve that there has never been in my mind a disrespectful 

thought of you. And then ” he paused and went on in 

a different tone, “ the situation was understood between us. 
It had been a challenge. There had been an open fight, and 
I had suffered severely enough to make me feel a savage 
wish to show you that you were beaten.” 


194 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


They had walked on, not in the direction of the saddling 
paddock, but among the gum-trees at the back of the Grand 
Stand, where, the view of the course being obstructed by 
the building, there was little or no crowd ; indeed, except 
for a few stragglers in care of luncheon carts, the spot was 
almost deserted. Elsie turned fiercely upon Blake. Her 
eyes were flashing ; her bosom heaving. 

“ What right have you to say that I was beaten ? You 
said that I — that I cared for you. What reason did I give 
you for thinking so ? Wasn’t I playing the game, too ? 
Do you think I have fallen so low as to give my heart to a 
man who — “who has shown me that he despises me. I de- 
spise you, Mr. Blake; I hate you.” 

Blake stood perfectly immovable. “ I am glad of 
that,” he said quietly. “ I wish you to hate me. But 
you are quite wrong in the other thing. I do not despise 
you.” 

“ Why— why ? ” stammered Elsie. “ Why should you 
wish me to hate you ? ” 

“ Because it would not be for your happiness that you 
should love me.” 

“ And why ? ” she repeated with the persistency of a 
child. 

“Because,” he answered, “I cannot ” He stopped 

and added more calmly, “Because in my scheme of life 
marriage has no place.” 

Elsie turned, and they walked a few steps back without 
speaking. 

“You have not given me credit for much cleverness, 
Mr. Blake,” she said. “ You evidently don’t seem to think 
that I am able to take a hint. I fancy that you warned me 
before we — before we challenged each other — against cher- 
ishing any false hopes.” 

The bitterness of her tone hurt Blake keenly. 

“ Thank you,” he said. “ It is a wholesome lesson for 
me to be made to feel that I am a conceited ass.” ' 

Again they walked on in silence. They were near the 
Grand Stand. 


LORD ASTAR'S ATTENTIONS. 


195 


“ Please don’t go up for a minute or two yet,” lie said. 
“We have wandered from the question.” 

“ And the question is ? ” 

“ Lord Astar’s obvious intention of making you a pres- 
ent which will probably take the form of an article of 
jewellery. Miss Valliant, I beseech you, for your own 
sake ” 

“ Hush,” she exclaimed passionately. “ I don’t want 
you to say anything more. I am old enough to take care 
of myself ; and if not, I have others who have a better right 
to protect me.” 

“Very well. Forgive me for my presumption. I will 
not otfend you again.” He turned deliberately. “We had 
better go back now,” he said, and conducted her to the 
stand, leaving her in her place beside Minnie Pryde with a 
ceremonious bow. 

Elsie did not speak to him again that day. Lord Astar 
came back presently, and hardly quitted Elsie’s side the rest 
of the day. When they got home, Minnie Pryde insisted 
on telling Mrs. Valliant of Elsie’s conquest. 

The silly woman was beside herself with delight. Elsie 
married to Lord Astar ! Ina’s marriage was as nothing in 
comparison. Why not ? If the Prince admired Elsie, why 
should not Lord Astar marry her ? She had been quite 
right in giving Frank Hallett an undecided answer — quite 
right in keeping that pushing handsome Mr. Blake and his 
less handsome and more pushing partner at a distance. 
Ah, Elsie was her pride and her joy ! Elsie would yet be 
the glory of her old age. 

The girl burst into a passionate fit of tears. “ Oh, mother, 
mother ! ” she cried. “ For pity’s sake leave me alone, and 
expect nothing of me.” 


196 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTER XXr. 

“at government house.” 

It was the last night but one of the Prince’s stay, and 
the Birthnight Ball, long after date, had been fixed for that 
evening. The occasion was to be one of unusual splendour. 

Mrs. Valliant, in her rather shiny black moire and a 
feathered cap, had been persuaded to emerge from her re- 
tirement and to chaperon Elsie. Not that there had been 
any difficulty in persuading her. She had always made it 
a point of duty to attend the “ Queen’s Birthday ” Ball. At 
the other balls she had allowed Ina and Elsie to be chaperoned 
by any obliging neighbour, but upon this occasion she felt 
that loyalty demanded an effort, and moreover it was her 
only opportunity of witnessing her pretty daughter’s tri- 
umph. She was a good deal assisted in the effort by Lord 
Horace’s present of a lace shawl, which, as she said, made 
her look fit to stand ev^en beside Lady Waveryng in all her 
diamonds. To-night she was in a state of feverish excite- 
ment, almost as great as that of Elsie herself, and her deli- 
cate face, which had the remains of Elsie’s beauty, was 
flushed like a girl’s, as she put the last touches to Elsie’s 
hair and dress. Elsie’s dress had been a present, too. from 
Lord Horace. It was white, and floated about her in fleecy 
clouds, the little satin bodice moulded to her pretty, slight 
figure, and great bunches of Cloth of Gold and La France 
roses at her breast and on her shoulders. There was a bou- 
quet of roses, too, on the table, which she had made herself. 
Oddly enougn Prank Hallett had sent her no bouquet this 
time. Perhaps he thought she should wear Blake’s or 
Trant’s ; perhaps he remembered that she had once before dis- 
carded his for one that Blake had sent her. But Blake had 
sent her none now, and Trant had been called suddenly to 
Barolin, and was hardly expected to be down in time for 
the ball, and so Elsie had been obliged to go herself to the 
curator of the Public Gardens and beg for the roses, which 


AT GOVERNMENT H ONSET 


197 


■were not as perfect as she would have liked. There were so 
many more important persons to be provided with flowers. 

But while she was dressing, a special messenger arrived 
wdth a box. Peter, the Kanaka, brought it to Elsie’s room. 
The messenger had said that he must take back an assurance 
that Miss Valliant had received it, and so Mrs. Valliant 
went to the door. The messenger was a suave gentlemanly 
person— Lord Astar’s servant, and he had come from Gov- 
ernment House. 

The box contained another bouquet, wired as if it were 
straight from Covent Garden, and tied with pale pink 
streamers. It was composed entirely of the most exquisite 
La France and Marechal Niel roses, and was in a silver 
holder. At the bottom of the box lay a little packet and a 
note. When Elsie opened the packet she gave a cry of sur- 
prise and delight. The light flashed from a star of pearls and 
diamonds. It was the temptation of Marguerite, and Elsie, 
notwithstanding her many Leichardt’s Town seasons, her 
numerous flirtations, and her daring unconventionality, 
was in truth as innocently ignorant of evil intent to herself 
in the mind of man as was Marguerite when she opened 
Mephistopheles" casket. Elsie’s lovers had always been chiv- 
alrous. The note was only a few lines : — 

“ If you will honour me by wearing the accompanying 
little trinket this evening, I shall interpret it as a sign that 
you accept my love, and that I may hope for the fulfilment 
of my most ardent wish. Devotedly yours, Astar.” 

Elsie drew a deep long breath. It was almost like a sigh 
of pain, but it was not pain or dismay or indignation which 
brought it forth. To her the note had but one meaning. It 
had never entered her mind that a man could approach a 
woman with words of love meaning anything but the one 
thing, marriage. Of course he wished to marry her. It 
was very strange, very sudden. That was all. To-night 
she must make up her mind whether or not she would ac- 
cept this brilliant destiny, nay, she must decide now, this 
very moment, since her destiny depended upon the clasp- 
ing round her neck of the jewel Lord Astar had sent her. 


198 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Well, there was no great difficulty in deciding. Here was 
some balm for her poor torn heart and wounded pride. 
Now, at least she could prove to Blake that she had never 
loved him. She could show him that if he despised her 
there were others more highly placed than he who thought' 
her worthy of being lifted to a rank far beyond any that 
he could offer her. And yet — the stab was agony — she 
loved him. She had never realized it so keenly as now. 

Mrs. Valliant watched her in breathless interest. She, 
too, had seen the flash of the diamonds, and she had no 
doubt of what the note contained. She, too, was in her 
w'ay as innocent as her daughter. She knew nothing of the 
wickedness of the world or the ways of men like Lord 
Astar. 

“ Elsie,’’ she cried, “ Oh, tell me, what is it ? ” 

“It is from Lord Astar,” replied Elsie dreamily. 

“ Yes, yes, 'I know. But show me — how beautiful ! ” She 
held the ornament to the light, and then away from her, and 
gazed at it in an ecstasy of pleasure. “ It is magniflcent — a 
present for a queen. Oh, Elsie, and it is settled ! And you 
let Minnie Pryde go on with her chatter, and you never told 
me — me, your mother, and I have been so anxious ! He pro- 
posed to you to-day. I knew it was coming. I saw that it was 
coming. No one could have watched him yesterday without 
seeing — he couldn’t tear himself away, he couldn’t keep his 
eyes from you. Was it to-day, Elsie, that he proposed ?” 

“ No, he hasn’t proposed to me.” 

“ But the letter ? ” said Mrs. Valliant bewildered. “ What 
does he say ? It can only mean that.” 

“Yes,” said Elsie slowly, “I suppose it means that.” She 
gave the note to her mother, who read it eagerly, and then 
looked at Elsie with an expression of bewildered joy, mixed 
with a certain vague terror. Then she read the note again 
aloud, and her expression became one of confident triumph. 

“ Yes, of course it means that. ‘ His dearest wish — that 
you will accept my love.’ I think it is beautiful, so delicate, 
such a romantic way of putting things; and to send this ! 
It’s like what one reads in books —oh, Elsie, and he is so 


GOVERNMENT HOUSE: 


199 


rich — Horace was telling me. Of course it’s quite natural. 
Ina married to Horace and the Waveryngs so taken with 
her. The difference in position wouldn’t strike him. Oh, 
what will the Garfits say now, and Mrs. Jem Hallett, who 
didn’t think you good enough to be her sister-in-law ? And 
now— Lady Astar ! Oh, Elsie, it is so wonderful ! I can’t 
believe it.” 

The poor woman ran on in her delight, never for a mo- 
ment doubting her daughter’s good fortune. Elsie said not 
a word. 

At last Mrs. Valliant exclaimed, “Elsie, how strange you 
are ! Aren’t you happy ? Tell your mother, who is so proud 
of you.” 

“ Yes, I am happy,” Elsie said. “ And so, mother, you 
wish me to wear Lord Astar’s star ?” 

“ Why, of course. He will understand, as he says, that ' 
you accept his love.” 

“ Accept his love,” repeated Elsie. “ And I have none to 
give him in return. But that doesn’t matter, mother ? ” 

“ It will come,” said Mrs. Valliant. “ How can you love 
him, when you have only seen him about five times ? Though 
it seems to me that it would be hard to help loving anyone so 
good-looking and fascinating as Lord Astar. I am not afraid 
of that.” 

She fastened the star round Elsie’s throat, where it 
gleamed, as Mrs. Valliant said, like an electric light. 
They tried it in several positions — in her hair and in 
front of her dress, but decided that it looked best upon 
her neck. 

Elsie was strangely silent. All the way to Government 
House she was silent too. It w^as a long drive, round by 
the South Side and across the bridge. Minnie Pryde and 
her father were with them, an arrangement by which Mrs. 
Valliant was spared half the price of the cab. They did not 
have a jingle this time. That was well enough for a club 
dance, or a private party, but for the Queen’s Birthnight 
Ball — and the Prince there — and Lord Astar! — No! At the 
last moment Mrs. Valliant had done violence to her eco- 


200 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


nomic soul, and had countermanded the jingle, and had 
asked tlie Prydes if they would go halves in a closed landau. 

Oh, Elsie, look ! ” cried Miss Pryde as they drove in at 
the great gates. 

The grounds had been turned into fairyland. The 
avenue of young bunyas was like an avenue of over- 
grown Christmas trees — pyramids of coloured lamps. And 
all the paths were outlined in coloured lamps, and Japanese 
lanterns were dotted about the trees and festooned the colo- 
nades, and over all the full moon shed a ghostly radiance. 
Within, it was even more like fairyland still. Canvas 
rooms had been thrown out — bowers of palm leaves, poin- 
settia, flowering yucca, and rich calladiums and all the 
rarest tropical plants. In one place a miniature fern 
tree gully with stuffed birds perched on the huge fronds 
as if about to take flight. Murmuring cascades, mossy 
grottoes, and banks of maidenhair and rock lilies. And 
further on, a mass of azaleas, and then a camellia tree, 
and here and there moss-bordered pools with fountains 
playing and water-lilies floating about. Of course Ina 
and Lord Horace were with the Waveryngs and the in- 
most circle of the Government House party. Lady Stuke- 
ley in the magnificence of crimson velvet, rose point, 
and diamonds that paled somewhat in glory beside Lady 
Waveryng’s tiara, that was celebrated, but wdiich were, 
nevertheless, finer than anything of the kind which the 
Lcichardtstonians had ever seen. It was really an impos- 
ing sight, and Elsie wmndered whether a Drawing-room 
could be much grander, the great ladies in their jewels, the 
Prince and his suite, with their decorations, and the uniforms 
and gold lace, and cocked hats, and swords that made up a 
background to the central figures. Everybody who had any 
sort of right to wear a uniform had put it on to-night, even 
to Minnie Pryde’s father, who had once had some kind 
of appointment in a volunteer corps, and Mr. Torbolton, 
the Premier, who looked very uncomfortable, and nearly 
tumbled over his sword. 

When Elsie had got over her entrance greeting, and the 


GOVERNMENT HOUSE: 


201 


little bob to Royalty, to which a course of six days’ state 
pageantry had already accustomed her, she found some 
amusement in watching the Leichardtstonians as they filed 
past and performed their obeisances. Frank Hallett came 
presently, and put his name down for some dances, and 
found Mrs. Valliant a seat, from which she could see the 
dancing when it began. He gave a startled look at Elsie's 
glittering decoration, the girl flushed crimson in contrast to 
his sudden paleness. It seemed to her that every eye in the 
room must be fixed on that star. Certainly the eyes of 
Blake were arrested by it, and he, too, turned a shade paler, 
and his own eyes gave out a flash as he noticed the orna- 
ment and guessed its history. 

“ I congratulate you. Miss Valliant,’’ he said, very low, in 
a voice of concentrated fury and bitterness. “ Lord Astar 
has excellent taste in jewellery.’’ 

“Lord Astar!” Frank Hallett caught the name, and 
turned to Elsie with a sudden passionate jealousy. “ Come 
out with me,” he said hoarsely, forgetting Blake’s presence 
— forgetting everything but a sudden awful fear that seized 
him. “ I want to say something to you.” 

“ Not now,” answered Elsie calmly. “ Please forgive 
me, Mr. Hallett. I forgot when I let you put your name 
down for the first waltz that I cannot dance it with you.” 

“ You are engaged to me for that waltz,” said Blake. 

She looked at him. His eyes never flinched from her 
face, but held hers with a compelling power. Elsie realized 
what a subject of hypnotism must feel in the presence of a 
master of that gift. She would have given worlds at that 
moment to have been able to assert her will and contradict 
Blake. It was impossible. She was spell-bound. She be- 
gan to speak and the words died on her lips. 

“ You are engaged to me,” Blake repeated. “ In the mean- 
time may I offer you my arm, till,” he added as they turned 
away, “ Lord Astar is at liberty to claim his property ? ” 

Still Elsie was spelFbound. They walked on a few steps. 
At that moment the music began, and the formal reception 
ended. The first quadrille— a state business— was being 


202 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


formed. The knot of men behind the Prince broke up; the 
Prince was leading off Lady Stukeley. Lord Astar came 
hurrying to them. He was flushed and looked excited. 
There was the light of an evil triumph in his eyes. 

“ I have been watching you, and watching for you,” he 
said to Elsie. “ That abominable bowing and scraping 
seemed never ending, and of course I was tied. Miss Val- 
liant, I’m tied still, you understand, for this quadrille, and I 
believe its Mrs. Torbolton— one of the wives of an official 
dignitary — sounds Mormonish, that speech, doesn’t it ? I’m 
on duty, you understand. Once this dance is over I m free 
till supper time. I claim the first waltz — the dance after 
the quadrille.” 

Elsie looked at Blake. She stammered — “I think, I 
believe I am engaged.” 

“ No,” exclaimed Blake, making a profound and it seemed 
to Elsie an ironic bow. “I resign my claim. Lord Astar 
has an evident -right.” 

“ You are very good,” said Lord Astar, coolly and some- 
what superciliously, glancing at Blake. “ But you needn’t 
take the merit of the sacrifice, though I am much obliged all 
the same. Miss Valliant ivas engaged to me.” 

“The next waltz, and,” — he whispered to Elsie — “don’t 
let too many fellows put their names down. It’s to be mine 
— this evening; oh, if you knew how beautiful you look ” 

He hurried off to where Mrs. Torbolton was sitting ; poor 
lady, she would much rather have danced with one of her 
husband’s colleagues. Blake gave his arm again to Elsie ; 
he had turned aside while Lord Astar had been speaking. 

“ Shall we dance ? I will find a place among the lesser 
fry.” 

He placed her opposite Minnie Pryde and Mr. Anderson. 
Minnie’s eyebrows went up in astonishment at the sight of 
Elsie’s star. “My goodness !” she exclaimed, “ to think of 
my not noticing it when you took off your cloak in the dress- 
ing room ! Who is it ? Not ” and she gave a significant 

flash in Blake’s direction. 

Elsie held herself haughtily erect and vouchsafed no sign. 


AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE: 


203 


Miss Pryde was not to be rebuked. “ It’s not His Respect- 
ability of Tunimba. That I’ll swear. I always said he had 
no chance. Oh, Elsie,” and Miss Pryde’s voice sank to an 
awestruck whisper, “ it’s not, it canH he the Prince.” 

“ How do you know it isn’t paste ? ” whispered Elsie back 
— as they parted hands. It was in the contact of the ladies’ 
chain that Miss Pryde had jerked out her interrogatories. 

‘‘ Tell your grandmother,” replied Miss Pryde with more 
pertinency than elegance. 

Lord Astar claimed Elsie directly the dance was over. 
He had found no difficulty in depositing Mrs. Torbolton on 
a chair, for the good lady was scant of breath, and glad to 
secure a permanent position till supper time. His dance 
had not been unprofitable. He had taken advantage of the 
pauses in the quadrille to lead the conversation to the sub- 
ject of Elsie. Miss Valliant, he soon discovered, was not a 
favourite in Leichardt’s Town. Mrs. Torbolton thought it 
was really her duty to warn the young men— he was quite 
young, and no doubt he had a mother who would be sorry 
to see him fall a victim to the most designing flirt in Leich- 
ardt’s Town. Elsie, it may at once be said, had refused Mrs. 
Torbolton’s son, and the young man had gone to the dig- 
gings, and had lost bis money and taken to evil ways, a 
second instance of the fatal effect of Elsie’s charms. Mrs. 
Torbolton hated Elsie, and perhaps it was not unnatural 
that she should. “ Yes, she was certainly very pretty,” 
Mrs. Torbolton grudgingly admitted. But then everybody 
knew that Elsie painted, and made herself up in a way that 
was not respectable. And she took presents from gentle- 
men, and went to lengths that really would astonish Lord 
Astar if he knew. In proof of it there was the fact that in 
spite of her undoubted beauty she was not yet married. Mr. 
Frank Hallett was supposed to be in love with her, but Mrs. 
Jem herself had declared quite lately that Mr. Hallett was 
evidently doubtful about tying himself to a girl so talked 
of— now that he was likely to take a prominent position in 
politics, and when it is so important that the wife of a pub- 
lic man should be above suspicion— “ Caesar’s wife, you 
14 


204 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


know,” added Mrs. Torbolton — and she had gone on to a 
highly-coloured relation of some of poor Elsie’s escapades, 
the Jensen episode among them. Lord Astar was not at all 
ill-pleased at Mrs. Torbolton’s confidences. He had often 
been just a little uneasy on the score of the Horace Gages 
and the Waveryng connectionship, but clearly it counted 
for very little. Lady Horace was a harmless little creature, 
utterly ignorant of the world, and not likely to assert 
claims of any sort. Lord Horace, as every one knew, was 
the scapegrace of the family ; the half-witted scapegrace, 
which was a far less dangerous person than the clever 
black sheep, and but for Lady Waveryng’s infatuation for 
him, and consequently the help that Lord Waveryng gave 
him, no one would ever trouble their heads about Lord 
Horace’s personal or family dignity ; no, that would not 
matter at all when the Waveryngs left Australia, which 
would be very shortly. It was unlucky that they should be 
on the scene just now, but with a little management things 
could be kept dark. And as for Elsie, the penniless daugh- 
ter of a defunct scab inspector, and a pretty dressmaker — 
Lord Astar had informed himself on the subject of Elsie’s 
parentage, and he smiled in amused appreciation of the 
hereditary instinct which aided her in the ccncoction of 
those very tasteful costumes to which she so frankly owned 
— the girl who “ made up ” and accepted presents from her 
admirers ; the girl of whom the Leichardt's Town matrons 
fought shy, and of whom the Leichardt’s Town young ladies 
were jealous ; the girl who was a sort of Pariah among her 
kind, and who loved dress, and luxury, and jewels, and who 
was devoured with a curiosity about life, about the world, 
who wanted to travel, who wanted “ experience ; she did 
not mind what kind of experience” — so poor Elsie had 
stated, as long as it was experience ; ah, well, was not this 
the natural and fitting conclusion ? And he would give 
her experience, and of a not very unpleasant kind. The 
battle would be even ; the bargain would be a fair one ; 
after all she deserved her fate. For Lord Astar was quick 
enough to see that the girl was not in love with him, and 


AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE: 


205 


that it was only the glamour of rank, wealth, and perhaps a 
glamour of the senses which had intoxicated her. 

There was in his manner a certain familiarity, a certain 
freedom, when he came to claim her, which jarred on Elsie, 
and roused in her the first faint feeling of alarm. But this 
had vanished when he piloted her into the dance, and 
guided her swiftly, surely, and with a perfection of finish 
of style and movement which was very delightful to Elsie. 
She herself was one of Nature’s dancers. She loved the ex- 
ercise, and she danced as few women can who have not made 
it a profession. When the dance was over, he took her out 
into one of the canvas conservatories. “ I have been all 
round,” he said, “I know the quiet nooks. Here is one 
you’d never suspect. ” He pulled back a corner of the can- 
vas, which was flapping loosely under an overhanging 
branch of palm leaves, and drew her through. They were 
in a little vine trellis, naked now, and with the moon 
shining through the interlacing boughs of an old Isabella 
grave vine, and at the end of the trellis was a small summer 
house, unlighted, except by one Japanese lantern. He led 
the girl, half shrinking, half wretched, half glad, to a bench 
in the summer house. Then he took her two hands, and 
drew her to him, leaning a little back himself, while he 
looked at her with bold admiring eyes. 

“ My own darling ! You are so beautiful; and I love you 
so ! If you knew how I watched the door this evening, and 
how my heart jumped when I saw the flash of those ! ” He 
placed a sacrilegious hand upon the girl’s warm soft neck. 

She shrank a little from his touch. 

“ You were glad that I wore them ? ” 

“Glad! I told you what it meant— my dearest wish! 
Darling, you didn’t hesitate. You knew what it meant ? ” 

“ I asked my mother if I should wear them,” said Elsie, 
simply. 

“You asked your mother! By Jovef” Lord Astar 
stroked his moustache.- And then he laughed, and put his 
arm round Elsie s waist, and would have kissed her, but she 
eluded the caress. 


206 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ What a shy little thing we are ! Not one kiss ? ” 

Not — not yet,” she said, still shrinking. 

He bent down and kissed her neck, and then her arms, 
and then her gloved hands, and back again to her dimpled 
shoulder. She put up her bouquet to shield herself from the 
rain of kisses. She had kept her lips— but these scorched 
and hurt her. 

“ No, let us talk.” 

“ Kissing is better than talking, when one has such a de- 
licious soft thing as you to kiss. Haven’t plenty of other 
men found that out, and told you so ? ” 

“ I don’t know whether they have found it out. They 
have not told me so.” 

“ Not, really ? Am I the first ? ” he asked jestingly, in- 
credulously. 

‘‘Almost the first. Yes, the fii*st.” She made a mental 
reservation — the-. first man whom she had freely allowed to 
kiss her, and whom she intended to marry. Blake had kissed 
her, but that had been a theft, an outrage. 

“ You all say that,” he said laughing. “ But the ladies 
of Leichardt’s Town tell a different tale.” 

“ Ah ! ” she gave a little wounded exclamation. “ Please 
don’t tell me what they said. I know it was something 
cruel. Tell me ” 

“ Tell you what ? ” 

“ Anything that is not too hard for me. Tell me what 
made you first think of this ? ” 

“ If I had a looking glass I’d put it in front of you and 
ask you to read the answer to that question in your own 
face. I love my love with an E, because she is— hang it, 
there’s not an adjective for Elsie, except elegant, and that 
does not express you. I love my love because she is the 
loveliest woman I’ve ever seen. Will that do ? ” 

“ And you will give up everything for me — only because 
I am pretty ? ” 

“ Give up everything ! ” he repeated. “ Gain everything, 
you mean.” ’ 

“It is giving up— when you don’t know a girl, and 


WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 207 


when it’s a girl like me, with no connections — or — or any- 
thing to speak of. only a little Australian savage, and when 
even ” ' 

“ When — what ? ” 

“When she doesn't even love you as much as she 
ought.” 

He turned himself to her and looked into her face with 
a curious surprise. She was looking out into the night, and 
her expression puzzled and her indifference piqued him into 
still wilder admiration. He laughed in a strange way. “ I 
think I could make you love me — quite as much as you 
ought, if you will trust yourself to me.” 

Now she turned to him seriously. “Very well,” she 
said, “ I will trust myself to you. If I had not thought that 
you would make me love you, and if I hadn’t w^anted to try, 
I would not have worn this.” She touched the diamonds at 
her neck. 

I He threw his arm round her. She knew that he wanted 
to kiss her, and something in his eyes made her shrink. 
She got up hastily. “ Not now,” she said. “ I think I should 
like to go back to the dancing.” 

“No, no,” he pleaded. But she was firm. Nor would 
she let him kiss even her hand. He thought this was 
coquetry, and told her he bided his time. 


CHAPTER XXH. 

WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 

The dance that should have been Frank Hallett’s was 
claimed by the Prince. Of course the royal i-equest was a 
command, and Elsie danced with the distinguished guest of 
Leichardt’s Land, to the envy and admiration of the Leich- 
ardtstonians. Lord Astar had written his name down for 
the dance following, and he came almost immediately and 
took her away. They went round the room once, and 


208 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


then he said hoarsely in her ear, “You are fooling me 
and playing with me. You won’t listen to what I have 
to say. And yet you have as good as promised to be 
mine.” 

Elsie’s hour had come. She let him lead her into the 
garden. They went to the little summer-house to which he 
had taken her before. All the way he poured out words of 
ardent devotion. 

Frank Hallett watched her go out with As bar. He 
watched for her return. It seemed to him as though some 
horrible fate were keeping him from her. He could hardly 
prevent himself from going up to her when she was danc- 
ing with the Prince, and when she was on Lord Astar’s 
arm. There was something about Elsie to-night which 
filled him with uneasiness. He was certain that she was 
very unhappy. He had watched her face while she was 
talking to Blake, and told himself that it was Blake she 
loved. Why was she fiirting with Lord Astar ? What 
was the meaning of that glittering star ? He was standing 
moodily against a background of palms at the entrance to 
the ball-room, when he heard his own name spoken, and in 
Elsie’s voice, — 

“ Frank!” 

He hardly knew the voice, it was so thin and so fright- 
ened. He turned. She was standing there alone ; he could 
not see Lord Astar. She was deadly pale except for a 
bright red spot on each cheek, and her eyes were like 
flames. “Frank,” she said, still with that strange quietude, 
“ will you take me away somewhere — somewhere where 
nobody can see me ? ” 

“ Elsie,” he exclaimed. “ what is the matter ? Come with 
me, my dear. I will take care of you.” 

He gave her his arm. As she clung to it he felt a tremor 
all through her body. 

“Not there,” she cried, fancying he was going to turn 
into the ball-room. “Take me home. Oh, Frank, take 
me home.” 

“Your mother is there,” he said. “ She was asking for 


WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 209 


you a moment ago. I told her you were with Lord Astar. 
Won’t you go to her ? ” 

“ No, no,” she shuddered. “ I can’t go in there — I can’t, 
I can’t.” 

Her composure was deserting her. He threw a hasty 
glance round. Another dance had begun. To the right 
was a refreshment room, now empty. He took her in there 
and put her on a chair. By this time she was trembling 
violently. He went to the table and poured out a glass of 
champagne, all that he could find in the way of stimulant, 
and made her drink it. “I am sorry it is not something 
stronger,” he said. “ Elsie, tell me ; are you ill ? Has any- 
thing happened ? ” 

“ Yes — yes — I am ill. Take me home, Frank ; now, at 
once. If I stay here I shall faint, or go mad. Take me 
home.” 

“ Tell me where your cloak is,” he said quietly, “ and if 
you will wait here for a few moments I will fetch it, and 
will send for a carriage. ” 

She felt in the bodice of her dress for a cardboard num- 
ber. He noticed then for the first time that there W9,s a 
great scratch upon the white skin, and that the diamond 
ornament was gone from her neck. 

He asked no questions, but went silently to the cloak- 
room. After a few minutes he came back with her cloak, 
and wrapped it round her. She was cowering in a corner 
of the room, having moved from the chair in which he had 
put her, and she had her face turned from the door as if she 
were afraid of being seen. 

“ Come,” he said. “ I was lucky. My flyman was just 
outside the entrance, and I got the cab at once.” 

He led her out into the colonnade. She had a lace 
scarf over her head, and she pulled it round her face, still 
in the same dread of being recognized and spoken to. “ Do 
you want me to tell your mother, or to send any message ? 
Would you like her to go with you ? If you w^ould I will 
take you a little way down the drive and you will be able 
to wait in the cab while I bring her to you.” 


210 


OUTLA W AND LA WMAKER. 


“No,” she said, “I would rather go with you alone. 
Mamma will think I am with Lord Astar; she will not 
mind.” Elsie gave a wild little laugh, which broke into a sob. 
“ Stay,” she said, and taking her programme she wrote upon 
it, “I have gone home with Mr. Hallett. Please don’t mind 
about me, but stay with Ina. I am tired. — Elsie.” She 
folded the programme and wrote her mother’s name upon 
it, all with the same feverish haste, and put it into his 
hands, while he helped her into the cab. “ Give it to 
someone to give to her,” she said, “ and then come back to 
me and take me away. I can’t bear it any longer. Oh, 
Frank, make haste and take me away ! ” 

He went back for a moment to the entrance to the ball- 
room, bidding the cabman to drive on and wait a little 
lower down the drive. He looked round for a trustworthy 
bearer of Elsie’s message. By good fortune Lady Horace 
was coming out of one of the tea-rooms on the arm of 
Morres Blake. He went up to her. “ Lady Horace, may I 
speak to you for a moment ? ” 

Blake withdrew a few paces. Ina looked at him anx-' 
iously. “ Where is Elsie,” she asked ; “ I cannot find 
her.” 

“ Elsie is with me, Ina ; something has happened to 
upset her— I don’t know what, unless that cad. Lord 
Astar ” 

“ Lord Astar ! ” Ina repeated. “ Oh, Frank, mamma 
said something — nothing is settled. I will not let Elsie he 
carried away into doing what she will all her life regret. 
Trust me, Frank. I have been looking for Elsie ever since. 
You mustn’t judge poor mamma hardly. You mustn’t be 
hard on Elsie.” 

Ina spoke in great agitation. She laid her little hand on 
his arm beseechingly. He looked at her puzzled. 

“ I don’t quite know wbat you mean,’' he said. “ I 
judge Elsie hardly ! You know how I love her. Lady 
Horace, you may trust her with me. She wants to go 
home. She doesn’t want Mrs. Valliant, I asked her. She 
wants to go home with me. Perhaps she will let me help 


WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE HARRIED. 


211 


her. She asked me to send this to Mrs. Valliant. Will you 
explain ? ” 

Ina took the folded programme and read what Elsie had 
written. 

“ Yes, I will explain ; I think I understand why Elsie 
doesn’t want mamma. She thinks mamma might be angry. 
Poor Elsie ! Take her home, Frank, and be kind to her.” 

Ina’s voice was trembling. Frank wondered why she 
showed so much emotion, but he did not wait to ask any 
questions. Ina turned towards Blake, who was standing 
apart watching them, with a curious expression on his face. 

“ I beg your pardon,” Ina said with quiet dignity, “ Mr. 
Hallett wanted to tell me that my sister wasn’t very well, 
and that she does not want to frighten my mother and to 
take her away. She is only tired, and there’s nothing 
wrong ; and so he is going to take her back to Eiverside, and 
I will explain to my mother. It would be such a pity to in- 
terrupt mamma’s pleasure, for she is enjoying the sight, and 
she so seldom goes anywhere, and there is nothing really 
wrong with Elsie,” Ina added conscientiously. ‘‘ She is only 
tired.” 

Blake bowed, and she took his arm again, while Hallett 
made his way out to where the cab was standing. He gave 
the order to the driver — “Riverside Cottage, Emu Point, 
round by the Bridge,” and got in beside Elsie. He saw that 
in those few minutes her composure had been broken down 
completely. She was crouching in a corner of the cab and 
was sobbing hysterically. He took her hand in his, and 
soothed her as if she had been a child. “ Elsie dear, try not 
to be unhappy, Elsie. Nothing can happen to you now. I 
am here to take care of you. If I can’t be anything else I 
can be your brother, dear ; and I can take care of you.” 

“ You don’t know ; you don’t know,” she sobbed. 

“I think I can guess,” he answered, grimly. “Lord 
Astar dared to send you that diamond thing that you wore 
—and he took advantage of your— your ignorance and 
thoughtlessness in accepting a present of which you prob- 
ably didn’t know the value. You took it as you might have 


212 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


taken a flower from me, and he inferred from it that you 
cared for him.” 

“ No,” she said ; “ don’t think better of me than I deserve. 
He did send it to me. He asked me to wear it as a sign that 
I would accept his love. I thought he wanted to marry me ; 
and I would have married him, for his rank and his money, 
though I didn’t love him. I was bad enqpgh for that, Frank. 
And then ” She fell again to shuddering sobs. 

“Go on, Elsie.” Frank’s voice was deep with passion. 
“Tell me everything.” 

“ I can’t, I can’t. How can I tell you of my disgrace ! 
How can I expect that you will ever speak to me or look at 
me again. If you knew how low I have fallen~what men, 
think of me ! ” 

Frank gave a low, grim exclamation. “Well, Elsie, tell 
me as if I were your brother. Try for to-night to think of 
me as your brother.” 

“ It was mamma who said I must wear that, and the 
bouquet ; it came while I was dressing. I had told him at 
the races that — that he might send me something. I did it ; 
how can I make you understand ? Mr. Blake was behind 
me ; he warned me against Lord Astar. He had no right, 
his speaking made me mad. I wanted to show him that I 
did not care.” 

“ Ah ! ” Frank drew in his breath, as if with pain. “ I 
understand. It is Blake whom you love.” 

“ No, no ” ; she cried with passion. “ I hate him. I 
never wish to see him again.” 

“ Is that true, Elsie ? ” 

“ Yes, Frank, I will tell you the truth. I did think I 
cared for him. W e were playing at a game that was deadly 
for me, and I wouldn’t own it. I thought I would make 
him care. It was a fair challenge. I can’t blame him for 
anything. One of us had to be hurt. It is I who was hurt, 
but I would not let him know. I hate him now. He 
exulted over me. He dared to tell me that he had won. 
And I said no, no. I wanted to show him that it didn’t 
matter to me. It was for that, partly. You know I always 


WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 


213 


meant to make a great match if I could. I never hid that 
from you. It was partly because of Mr. Blake, and to get 
away from everything, that I wore Lord Astar’s diamonds. 
Mamma thought that he wanted to marry me. We were 
both of us blind ; foolish, oh, how utterly foolish ! we didn’t 
think how I must seem to him fair game. And he must 
have laughed. It makes me laugh now.” 

She burst into hysterical merriment that was terrible to 
hear. 

“ Don’t, Elsie ; don’t — don’t laugh like that, my dear. 
There is no shame to you, because he was a villain. The 
unutterable cad ! He has dared ” 

“ At first I thought he meant that we should run away, 
to be married. He said if I would meet him the next day ; 
and he would get oil going with the Prince, and take me to 
Sydney ; and afterwards to England. And then— when I 
understood ” 

“ What did you do ? My God, if I had heard him ” 

“I don’t know what I did. I tore the thing off, I think 
I threw it at him. And he tried to keep me. And then I 
came to you ; I thought at once of you, Frank. I knew 
that you would take care of me.” 

He took her hand in his, and put his arm round the little 
trembling form. 

“ I will take care of you, with my life. Only give me 
the right.” 

“The right,” she repeated, as if she did not realize what 
it meant. “ Oh, I knew that I could trust you, Frank, there 
is no one like you.” She clung to him, and her shivering 
ceased. “ Frank,” she went on, in a broken childlike w’ay — 
“ He didn’t kiss me ; I didn’t let him kiss me. That’s all 

the comfort I have. No one ever kissed my lips except ” 

and she fell to shivering again. 

For answer, Frank Hallett bent down very quietly and 
kissed her forehead. He laid her head against his shoulder, 
and she seemed to find comfort in the caress. “ Elsie,” he 
said, “ I want you to listen to me. You know how I love 
you — no, you never can know quite how I love you. I 


-^214 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


would have given you up to Blake, if he had wanted to 
marry you, and you had loved him so that to marry him 
would have been for your happiness. I have kept away 
from you these weeks because I didn’t want you to feel 
bound in any way, or to have any remorseful thoughts. I 
said from the beginning that I would take my chance, and 
wait your time. But I think that the time has come now 
for me to speak.” 

“It is generous of you,” she said, very low ; “now when 
no one can respect me ; when I have given the two — 
when Lord Astar and Mr. Blake have a right to despise 
me. ” 

“ They have no right,” cried Frank. “ You are yourself 
pure, sweet, womanly as you have been always. I don’t 
know what has passed between you and Blake. I don’t 
want to know. No man can be so unutterable a scoundrel 
as to despise a woman for loving him — and you love Blake, 
my poor Elsie. It breaks my heart to see it, and yet I know 
it quite well.” 

“And in spite of that, you — you want ” she said 

breathlessly. 

“ And in spite of that, I want you to marry me — that’s 
what I want, Elsie. I want to have the right to protect you. 
I want Lord Astar — I want all the world to know to-morrow 
that you are my affianced wife. I am not a great match, 
Elsie dear, but I am great enough to protect you now. 
And you mightn’t do better,” he added, with an odd little 
laugh. 

“ Oh, Frank, you hurt me.” 

“ I don’t want to do that. ‘And I don’t want to take any 
advantage of you — and of your weakness to-night. If you 
don’t want to bind yourself, let it be understood between us 
that our engagement is only before the world, and that in 
reality you are as free as you were yesterday. I shall not 
vex or worry you, Elsie. I shall not even ask you to kiss 
me. Everything shall be as you wish. I understand you 
and how you feel.” 

“ No, Frank, you can’t do that. And I couldn’t sacrifice 


WE ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 215 


you, just to my pride, for that’s what it comes to. If I were 
to accept you now, to-night, it would be for always, and be- 
cause I meant to try and make you as good a wife as it is 
possible for me to be.” 

“ Will you have me, then, Elsie ? ” 

“ Frank, you don’t want to marry a girl who has just 
told you that she cares for a man who — who would not 
marry her and has let her see that he despises her.” 

‘‘ Yes, I do want to marry that girl. It is nothing to me 
what any other man feels about her.” 

“ But it should be something to you— what she feels 
about some other man.” 

There was a short silence. At last Frank spoke. I am 
willing to take my chance of your being cured of that. I 
have been watching you. Perhaps you thought I was too 
dense to see or to understand. But love makes people quick 
at forming conclusions. I formed mine about you and 
Blake. I thought he didn’t care for you in the way that a 
man cares when he means to marry a girl in spite of every 
obstacle — I can’t help feeling about Blake that there is some 
obstacle — some mystery in his past.” 

“ Ah ! You feel that, too ? ” 

“Yes. It may be nothing disgraceful ; I don’t know. 
Why should I think so ? The man is a gentleman. I like 
him in a kind of way, though he is my rival. But when a 
man loves a woman beyond all things, he goes away or else 
he does his honest best to win her. He doesn’t play at a 
game of flirtation to amuse himself and gratify his sense of 
power, and let her run the risk of being hurt in it, as you 
have been hurt, my poor Elsie.” 

“ Don’t speak of that. I will cure myself. I will not let 
myself be beaten.’’ 

• “ It’s because you say that that I am safe in taking the 

risk. I know you, Elsie ; how true and good and pure you 
are in the very depths of your nature ! You have only been 
playing at life, and at love. You haven’t known anything 
of evil, or of the realities of the world. It may be that only 
in marriage you will learn what love means — and oh, if it 


216 


OUTLA W AND LA W MAKER. 


might be for me to teach you ! You have never cared for 
anyone in the real sense of the word. Of course I know 
that you don’t care and never have cared for me in that 
way, though I believe that you have a more solid affection 
for me than you ever had for anyone. ” 

“That is true, Frank.” 

“ I don’t believe that you have ever loved Blake in the 
real sense either. You were dazzled by him at the begin- 
ing. There was a glamour of romance about him, and he 
has a way of compelling interest and admiration. Oh, I 
saw it all at Groondi, at the election time. And Ina saw it, 
too. Ina always said that you were only fascinated, and 
that it would pass away. Ina has been my best friend all 
through. If it hadn’t been for her I should have given up 
hope.” 

“Frank, it is Ina you ought to have cared for, not me.” 

Frank winced. He did not answer. There was a little 
silence. Presently he said, “Elsie, I am right. You will 
get over this girlish fancy: I am not afraid. I will wait.” 

They had crossed the bridge, and had passed out of the 
long straggling street of the South Side, as it was called, and 
now they were in a quiet road, bordered with gum trees, 
which gave out an aromatic fragrance into the night. Elsie 
had grown calm. Frank still kept his arm about her, hut 
he had attempted no closer caress. They drove for some 
little way in silence. The lights of Emu Point and of the 
houses in Eiverside Paddock began to show in front of 
them. 

“ Elsie,” Frank said, “ will you tell me what you are 
thinking ? ” 

“ I will tell you when we reach home,” she said quietly. 
“I will give you your answer then. Don’t speak to me till 
we reach home.” 

He obeyed her, and they did not speak another word till 
the cab drew up in front of the little garden gate of the cot- 
tage. Thei’e was a light in the drawing-room, and Peter, 
the Kanaka, was acting as watch dog in the verandah. 
Frank helped Elsie to get out, and told the cabman to wait. 


WB ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED. 217 


“ I will see you in,” he said in a matter-of-fact way, “ and 
then I shall go back to Government House, and bring Mrs. 
Valliant home.” 

Peter, the Kanaka, had got up from his blanket, in 
which he had been sleeping in the verandah, after the 
fashion of an Australian black. He rubbed his eyes at 
sight of Elsie. She bade him wait and watch still for Mrs. 
Valliant, speaking quite composedly, and then turned to 
Frank. “ Will you come in for a minute and hear what I 
have to say ? ” 

He followed her into the little drawing-room, which was 
lighted by one lamp, tmmed low. She raised the wick and 
stood by the table, a little tremulous again now, but never, 
he thought, had he seen her look more beautiful. She had let 
her cloak drop, and the lace from her head. Her pretty ball- 
dress was scarcely crushed, and the roses on her bodice were 
fresh and overpoweringly sweet. She had thrown away the 
bouquet. On her face were still traces of tears and humilia- 
tion, and her eyes shone very brightly. On her neck was 
the deep angry scratch which the point of the diamond star 
had made. She put out her two hands to him, and he held 
them in his and stood looking at her. 

“ Well, Elsie ; what is it to be ? ” 

“ It is to be as you wish,” she said. “ Only — only, Frank, 
don’t expect too much from me yet. I will try — I will try 
hard to forget.” 

“ Thank you, dear,” he said gently. “ That is all I ask. 
God bless you, Elsie, you have made me very happy.” 

“Tell them, tell them to-night,” she said feverishly. “I 
want everybody to know — tell them at the ball. Tell 
mamma. But don’t tell her anything else, Frank. Let ' 
that be between you and me. Let it never be spoken of 
again from this night. Only see that Lord Astar knows.” 

“ He shall know,” said Frank, grimly. “ And I will tell 
your mother. She wouldn’t have been sorry six months ago. 
Perhaps she will be disappointed now. But,” he added, “ Ina 
will be glad.” 

“ Yes, Ina will be glad,” Elsie said thoughtfully. 


218 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


They were standing, he with her hands in his, both with 
trouble in their eyes. ‘‘ I must go,” he said, rousing himself 
from the contemplation of her face. “ Good-night, my dear,” 
he added wistfully. “ Try to sleep happily.” 

Still he did not relinquish her hands. Frank,” she said 
falteringly, “ it seems a strange way to be engaged.” 

‘‘Yes, we are engaged,” he answered, with an effort at 
brightness. “ We are engaged to be married; and you have 
made me very happy. If it seems strange — but the strange- 
ness will wear off in time, Elsie.” 

He let her hands go. “ Good-night dear.” 

“ Frank,” she said, appealingly, “ Frank, I didn’t mean — 
won’t you kiss me, Frank ? ” 


CHAPTER XXHI. 

A SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT. 

Ina Gage was waiting anxiously for the re-appearance 
of Frank Hallett. Mrs. Valliant’s uneasiness about Elsie 
had been quickly allayed. She had soon got into the fretful 
mood. Mrs. Valliant was one of those women in whom 
sweetness is apt to turn to a pettish sense of ill-usage. 
“ There’s never any calculating on Elsie’s moods,” she said 
to Ina. “ She was quite well and happy when she got here. 
Something has gone wrong. Ina, you don’t think it s possi- 
ble that she has refused Lord Astar.” 

‘‘I think it is very possible,” said Ina ; “and if she has 
refused him, and feels that you will be vexed, it is quite easy 
to understand why she went home. ” 

‘‘ But why couldn’t she have come to me, why go off in 
that extraordinary fashion with Frank Hallett ? I am glad 
it was Frank Hallett, and not that Mr. Blake. Look here, 
Ina ; if anything has gone wrong about Lord Astar, take 
my word for it that the fault is Mr. Blake’s.” 

In other respects Mrs. Valliant was enjoying the ball. 


A SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT. 


219 


She liked the fine sight. Lady Waveryng had been par- 
ticularly nice to her, and so had Lady Stukeley. Mrs. Val- 
liant exulted in the discomfiture of Lady Garfit, to whom it 
was quite evident that the Waveryngs had not taken a 
fancy, and though her enjoyment was considerably marred 
by Elsie’s departure, and though she suffered some qualms 
of doubt and disappointment thereat, especially as Lord 
Astar had taken no notice of her beyond the first greeting, 
she was of a hopeful nature and accustomed to vagaries on 
the part of Elsie, and trusted that all would come right in 
the end. 

She was at supper when Frank returned. Ina, who had 
been one of the privileged guests at the royal table, had got 
out before the general company, and he met her as he was 
looking for her mother. 

“Mamma is in the supper-room,” said she. “Tell me 
about Elsie.” 

She saw at once signs of emotion and elation on Frank’s 
face. 

“ Ina,” he said, “ you must congratulate me. She wished 
everyone to know. She said she wanted them to know to- 
night. ” 

A strange look came into Ina’s face, an odd far-away 
look. He thought at first that she had not quite taken in 
his meaning. 

“ She has said that she will marry me,” he said simply. 

Ina drew a deep breath, and a faint colour came into her 
cheek, which had been very pale. 

“ Oh, Frank ! Then it is settled ? ” 

“ Yes, it is settled ; as far as anything can be settled. I 
told her that she should be free to break it off at any time, 
if she felt that she -did not care for me enough. She is still 
free, of course. But she says she does not wish that, and 
that her promise is a binding one. Will you tell Horace, 
and anyone else that you please ? ” 

“ And Lord Astar ? ’’ 

“Lord Astar!” Frank exclaimed passionately. “I have 
to thank Lord Astar,” he added with some bitterness, “ for 
15 


■220 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


having brought this about. Don’t talk to Elsie about Lord 
Astar. She does not wish it. The day after to-morrow — 
no, to-morrow, for it’s morning now — he will have gone out 
of our lives — for ever, I hope.” 

There was a rush of people returning from the supper 
room. Ina turned — ‘‘ There is mamma,” she said. Mrs. 
Valliant was on Blake’s arm. It struck Frank as odd that 
Blake should devote himself to Elsie’s mother. He went 
towards her, and Mrs. Valliant turned with faded coquetry 
to Blake. 

“ Here is Mr. Hallett come to give me news of my 
naughty daughter.” She made a step towards Hallett. 
“ Did you leave Elsie ? And will you help me to find our fly ? 
though I don’t know what to do. It is so awkward. You 
see we came with the Prydes, and they won’t want to go 
yet. Minnie is living on in hopes that the Prince will ask 
her to dance, but he has danced with none of the girls ex- 
cept my Elsie ; he has been devoting himself to Lady 
Waveryng, which is quite natural, of course.” 

“ My trap is at your service,” said Blake, “ if you would 
like to go back to your daughter. I am very sorry Miss 
Valliant was not well. I hope she is better.” 

“ Thank you,” said Hallett, stiffly ; “ Miss Valliant was 
only tired. I have got a fly here and I will take you 
home,” he said to Mrs. Valliant. “ Shall we go and find 
Miss Pryde, and explain that we are going ? I believe that 
I was engaged to her for the dance before supper. I must 
make my apologies.” 

Mrs. Valliant took his arm, and Blake went up to Lady 
Horace. As they walked through the ball-room, Hallett 
said — 

“Mrs. Valliant, I have got some news for you. Elsie 
has promised to be my wife.” 

Mrs.. Valliant turned on him a bewildered face. “Lord 
Astar ! ” she gasped. “ Lord Astar had asked her to marry 
him. I expected to hear that everything was settled.” 

“ Lord Astar did not ask Elsie to marry him,” Frank said 
sternly. “He meant nothing more than idle flirtation, 


A SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT. 


221 


Mrs. Valliant; please don’t speak to Elsie about Lord Astar. 
1 have to beg this of you. She never cared for him. She 
wants to forget — to forget that she ever thought it possible 
for a moment that she could care ” 

“ I don’t understand,” said Mrs. Valliant, in a perplexed 
manner. 

“ Elsie and I understand each other,” answered Frank. 

We understood each other this summer on the Luya. I 
was only waiting — waiting till Elsie had made up her mind. 
And now she has made it up, she says, for good and all. 
There’s nothing now but for you to say that you will give 
her to me. I am not afraid that you will say no. We 
talked of this before.” 

“ Yes, we talked of this before,” repeated Mrs. Valliant, 
still bewildered. “ Of course I’m very glad, Mr. Hallett ; 
Frank, I suppose I ought to say now. I am very glad that 
you care for Elsie and that she cares for you. She did not 
tell me there was any understanding between you — she 
rather let me think — but there, it’s no use going back on 
what Elsie says— she will always go her own way, and she 
doesn’t take me into her confidence. It’s a little hard, con- 
sidering that I’m her mother, and that I think of nothing 
but of her good. Ina was quite different, Ina always talked 
to me and told me things. I’m sure this evening when we 
started — if anyone had told me that Elsie would go back 
from the Government House ball engaged to you I should 
have laughed in their face. If it had. been Mr. Blake I 

should have been less surprised. But it only shows ” 

Mrs. Valliant stopped short, struck by the expression of 
Hallett’s face. ‘‘ I beg your pardon,” she said humbly ; “ but 
you know Mr. Blake did pay Elsie a great deal of attention 
when he first came. ” 

“ And that is past,” said Frank, decidedly; “and I know 
that the subject is almost as distasteful to Elsie as the sub- 
ject of Lord Astar’s attentions. Elsie has promised to be 
my wife, Mrs. Valliant. I mean to take care of her. I don’t 
mean that she shall be vexed or worried by anything that 
it is in my power to shield her from. But never mind that. 


222 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER 


Won’t you give me your blessing and accept me as your 
son, and tell Elsie when you see her to-night that you are 
glad ? ” 

“Yes, I will,” said Mrs. Yalliant. “ It’s the best thing 
that could have happened. I won’t talk about Mr. Blake or 
about Lord Astar to Elsie or anybody, but this I must say, 
that I am glad it’s you, and not Blake. I never liked that 
man somehow, and I’m certain — as certain as I’m standing 
here — that he is fond of Elsie. I could see it this evening 
in the way he looked, and the way he talked.” 

Frank said nothing. This should have been poor com- 
fort, and yet there was an odd pleasure in the hearing of it. 
He was better pleased that Blake should love Elsie, and 
should be disappointed, than that he should have been flirt- 
ing with her merely for the gratification of his own vanity 
and the humiliation of hers. 

They found the Prydes. Mrs. Valliant’s excited manner 
told that something had happened. She was not proof 
against Minnie’s eager whispered questioning. 

“ Is she engaged ? ” Minnie asked. “ Oh, do, only just tell 
me that. ” 

“Yes, she is engaged,” answered Mrs. Valliant. “It’s 
all quite sudden and unexpected though ; I am sure I might 
have known it was coming months ago, but Elsie is so odd 
and so reserved. She might just as well have told me it 
was Frank Hallett, instead of letting me beat about the 
bush and getting herself so talked about with other peo- 
ple.” 

“Frank Hallett!” exclaimed Minnie, in genuine aston- 
ishment. “Well, I never thought it would come about like 
this. I thought there was something up with Lord Astar, 
though Daddy said it was nonsense, and that he’d never 
be allowed to marry a girl like Elsie. I beg your pardon, 
Mrs. Valliant, I don’t mean of course that Elsie wasn’t as 
good as any of them, but you know what I mean.” 

“No, I do not,” said Mi’s. Valliant, with dignity. “Lord 
Astar had serious intentions, I know for a fact. Why Elsie 
has refused him I cannot think. But of course, Elsie knows 


A SURFEISING ANNOUNCEMENT. 223 

her own heart best, and if she has cared for Frank Hallett 
all this time ” 

“ Rubbish ! ” said Miss Pryde. “ I know Elsie is not in 
love with Frank Hallett. Anyone could see that. If she 
is in love with anybody I should say it was with Mr. 
Blake — I am sure it seemed so in the beginning of the win- 
ter. But I think she is very wise, and I am sure I hope she 
will be happy.” 

Minnie Pryde was not slow in imparting her news to her 
partners, and amongst them to Blake. 

“Yes, it is really true,” she said. “Mrs. Valliant told 
me, and Mrs. Valliant as good as told me that Elsie had 
refused Lord Astar for Frank’s sake. I don’t believe it, do 
you ? ” 

“ I think Miss Valliant is quite capable of even that,” said 
Blake. “ When did the engagement take place ? I am curi- 
ous to know.” 

“ This evening. He must have proposed in the cab on 
the way home. What can have made Elsie go away? There 
is soraethiiig behind, I am certain; and I shall find it out 
to-morrow.” 

The news spread through the ball-room. “ So your sister 
is engaged to that typical young Australian, Frank Hal- 
lett?” said Lady Wave ryng, to Ina. “Pm glad of it, my 
dear, for I think she is a young lady who will be the better 
for settling down, and I meant to give you a little hint that 
it was not quite wise of her to flirt so desperately with Lord 
Astar.” 

“ I’m sorry for Morres Blake,” said Lord Waveryng 
later, “ for I’ve a very shrewd suspicion that he was a good 
deal more gone than he cared to own on the beautiful Elsie. 
Well, she has done very well for herself. Old Stukeley tells 
me that young Hallett is a rising man, and very well off.” 

“ My dear, you look dead,” said Lady Waveryng, kindly, 
struck by her sister-in-law’s paleness. “You ought to go 
home. Let Waveryng go and find Horace.” 

“ Horace is in the supper-room,” said Lord Waveryng, 
rather grimly. “Yes, I’ll fetch him, with pleasure.” 


224 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“Ina,” said Lady Waveryng, “I want to talk to you. I 
want you to let us come up with you to the Dell, as soon as 
the Prince has gone. You are too wildly dissipated, you 
Leichardtstonians, even for me. I don’t think this life is 
healthy for Horace —too much larking round, driving four- 
in-hand, billiards at the club, and nipping and champagne 
suppers. Horry is so stupidly social and good-natured; it 
has always been his fault. I think he is a little disheartened 
about the Dell, isn’t he? It hasn’t paid as well as he thought. 
He was telling Waveryng that he wanted to take up more 
land and make a larger place of it ; and that would give him 
more occupation, wouldn’t it ? ” 

“Yes,” said Ina, faintly; “he wants more occupation.” 

“ You don’t keep him in order, my dear,” Lady Waveryng 
went on. “ That’s what Horry always wanted. He ought to 
have married a martinet, not a sweet, docile, submissive little 
creature like you: you let him sit upon you too much. Did 
he tell you that I gave him a lecture the other night for 
leaving you so much alone ? ” 

“ No. But you mustn’t, indeed. Lady Waveryng — Emily, 
I mean. Horace is very kind, and if I am sometimes alone, 
it is what I like. You mustn’t ever scold Horace because of 
me. He is the best husband in the world.” 

“ Well, I’m glad to hear it,” said Lady Waveryng, putting 
up her ej^eglass, “ He has certainly got the best wife in the 
world. And what I want to tell you is that you must get 
him to go up to the Dell, and take us v^ry soon. We haven't 
much longer to he here: and Waveryng is quite ready to do 
something, if he sees that the money is not going to be thrown 
away — Waveryng likes the idea of taking up land and found- 
ing a sort of estate ; and we might come out again, you know, 
and see how you are getting on.” 

Ina expressed her gratitude. Presently Lord Waveryng 
came with Lord Horace, who was excited and full of Elsie’s 
engagement. “I’ve been telling ’em in the supper- room,” 
he said. “ A capital fellow, Frank Hallett ; the best fellow 
in the world ! By Jove, Astar was hit, I can tell you ! You 
should have seen his face ! I shall chaff Elsie about it to- 


A SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT. 


225 


morrow. Look here, Ina, you can get over to Fermoy’s 
all right,” he said, as they went out after having said good- 
night to the Waveryngs. “ I’ll put you in the fly, and 
then I’ll go to the Club. I’ve promised some fellows to 
look in.” 

Ina made no protest. Lord Horace was surprised at her 
quietness. 

“What has come to you?” he said. “You are like a 
death’s head. I wish you would brighten up a bit. You 
make people think I ill-use you. Em gave me a talking to 
the other night for neglecting you. If you want to make 
yourself out a martyr, for heaven’s sake don’t try it on with 
my people. You won’t get any good of that. Em is devoted 
tome. She always was.” 

“ I am very glad,” said Ina faintly. “ I never complained, 
Horace. I want you to be happy in your own way. I am a 
! little tired to-night, that’s all. Em wants us to go back to 
1 the Dell, dear, and to take them with us, and I think we had 
I better go.” 

“Waveryng means to fork up, I suppose,” said Lord 
Horace, sulkily. “ It’s a little hard to drag a fellow up just 
when there’s a chance of amusing oneself. But I suppose 
we had better go, and you can ask Elsie to come with us if 
I you like. We’ll get up a kangaroo hunt, or bush races, or 
something to amuse Waveryng.” 

So it was settled, and Ina rejoiced in the thought that 
for her the Leichardt’s Town season would shortly come 
to an end. She was a brave little person, this poor Ina, and 
no one guessed that the fox was gnawing her under the 
cloak that she wore so decorously. 

; Mrs. Valliant had a few words with Elsie that night, 
i What she had were not altogether satisfactory. The house 
was dark and Elsie had gone to bed when Mrs. Valliant 
and Frank stepped on to the verandah. It was Peter, the 
Kanaka, who told them that Miss Elsie was in her room. 
Frank went away, and Mrs. Valliant sought her daughter. 

Elsie was lying awake, her tangled hair all about her pil- 
low, and Mrs. Valliant fancied that she had been crying, her 


226 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


eyes looked so red and so bright. But she was now, at any 
rate, perfectly composed. 

“ I suppose Frank has told you,” she said, as soon as her 
mother entered. “You were quite wrong, mamma,” she 
went on in a hard tone, “ it would have been much better if 
you had not advised me to wear Lord Astar’s star. It only 
gave him the right to insult me.” 

“Elsie!” cried Mrs. Valliant. “How was I wrong? 
What do you mean ? ” 

“You were wrong in thinking that Lord Astar could 
possibly wish to marry me. He only wanted me to run 
away with him. He made me understand quite clearly — I 
didn’t at first— that marrying and running away with a girl 
were two different things.” 

“ And you can tell me this— quietly like that ! ” cried 
Mrs. Valliant. “I’d have wanted to kill him.” 

“ I think I did want to kill him,” said Elsie, in a low 
voice. 

Mrs. Valliant raged hysterically after the manner of a 
wild woman. 

“ Does he think that because you have no father or brother 
there is no one to call him to account ? There is Horace. 
Horace shall know. Horace is as good as he is; and Ina 
has married into a great family. No one shall insult my 
daughter. I will go to-morrow to Government House. I 
will insist upon an explanation and an apology.” 

“ No, mamma, you won’t do anything. You will put 
the whole thing out of your mind, as I am going to do from 
this night. We brought it on ourselves, and I have de- 
served everything.” * 

“ And Frank Hallett knows ? ” 

“ Frank is a hero and a gentleman,” cried Elsie. “ There 
is no one like him in the world. I shall marry him, mamma, 
and I shall make him as good a wife as it is in my nature to 
be. I don’t think I’m really bad. I think I can make him 
happy. That’s all that matters.” 

“ I think a great deal matters besides that,” said Mrs. Val- 
liant. She was in a tearful mood, and kissed Elsie, and 


GOOD-BYE, ELSIE VALLIANTj 


227 


talked about the trousseau, and about the difficulty of fiiid- 
ing money for it, and the disadvantage to a girl of having 
no male relatives, all in the same breath. Then seeing that 
Elsie was moody and unresponsive, she stopped, picked up 
the finery which the girl had taken off, smoothed the rib- 
bons, put the roses in water, and folded the gloves, and 
then came back to the bed. “ Well, good-night,” she said 
timidly. “ I shall not call you to-morrow. I shall watch 
and bring you your breakfast when I know that you arc 
awake.” 

She was moving away when Elsie impetuously stretched 
out her arms from the bed. “Good-night, mother; dear 
mother. W e’ll try to be better to each other, dear, than we 
have been; I’ll try to be more like Ina.” 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

“good-bye, ELSIE VALLIANT.” 

Lord Horace’s evening at the club and Minnie Pryde’s 
confidences to her after-supper partners had spread the 
news of Elsie’s engagement far and wide. At the meeting 
of the Assembly the next afternoon, Frank Hallett was 
congratulated both by his own side and by several members 
of Mr. Torbolton’s ministry. 

“ I thought it was going to be one of my colleagues,” 
said the Premier, with a significant look at Blake ; “ but this 
is much better, and I congratulate you heartily.” 

Frank did no|t ask Mr. Torbolton why this was much 
better, since presumably Mr. Torbolton should have wished 
his colleague to be preferred in any suit on which he had 
set his heart, but accepted the congratulations in a grave 
reserved manner which was not much like that of a trium- 
phant lover. He took his seat, and went about his business, 
and even made a speech, and all the time there was present 
with him the wonder whether it was really himself — Frank 


228 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Hallett — who was seated in that house on the front Oppo- 
sition bench, which was next best to being- in the ministry, 
Elsie’s affianced husband, having gained his dearest wishes 
both of the head and of the heart, and altogether the most 
fortunate of men, and if so why he did not feel more elated 
at his success. Perhaps the reason lay in the fact that 
Morres Blake was sitting opposite to him. Morres Blake 
made a speech, too. All his speeches were brilliant, but 
this was more than usually so. As he listened, Frank Hal- 
lett had a dull sense of defeat and disappointment. He did 
not grudge his rival the glory, but was glad that Elsie was 
not there to listen to his eloquence. Perhaps it was remorse 
for his pettiness that made him congratulate Blake when, 
later on, he passed him in the lobby. 

“ I hear that I have to congratulate you on a different 
and far more important matter,” said Blake, after he had 
thanked him. “ I think you have won a prize, and I do con- 
gratulate you in sincerity.” 

He did not wait for Hallett’s answer, but turned away 
with an abruptness that was out of keeping with his ordi- 
nary courteous self-command. 

Another of Elsie’s admirers received the news that day. 
This was Trant. He heard it at Fermoy’s on his arrival 
there early in the afternoon. Some business had detained 
him at Barblin, and he had not arrived in time for the Gov- 
ernment House ball. It was Lord Horace who gave him 
the intelligence. Lord Horace was loafing about the ve- 
randah, looking rather the worse for his late evening. He 
observed with a mischievous amusement the red flush that 
mounted to Trant’s cheek, and took a delight in aggravating 
his discomfiture. Lord Horace was quite aware that Trant 
was one of the number of Elsie’s hopeless admirers. 

“ Yes, it is quite settled. I think very likely the mar- 
riage will be soon. We are all delighted. She couldn’t 
have done better, you know — not even if you had been the 
favoured individual, you know, Trant. You ought to go 
and offer your congratulations.” 

“Yes, I will,” said Trant, sulkily. 


GOOD-BYE, ELSIE VALLIANTr 


229 


■ “We’ve had a stunnin’ time, almost as good as the 
Goondi election,” continued Lord Horace. “ The Prince’s 
' visit has wakened up Leichardt's Town a bit. Now we’ve all 
got to go back to the nursery, like the good children that 
have come in to dessert. I say, you must help me to get up 
^something for Waveryng. They’re coming up to the Dell, 
you know ; a kangaroo battue, or a bushranging lark, some- 
' thing typical and Australian, not that Waveryng has much 
notion of the value of local colour.” 

' Trant gave an odd sort of laugh. “ I daresay Moonlight 
would oblige you if he knew what you wanted.” 

^ “ Moonlight has laid low this full moon,’’ said Lord 

V Horace. ‘‘Well, think it out, Trant, and in the meantime 
you go and wish Miss Valliant joy, and if you see my wife 
■ there, tell her, will you, that I want her.” 

! Trant went off. It was a little before the hour of Elsie’s 
^verandah reception, but he thought he should have more 
t chance of finding her alone. Lady Horace was there, and 
the two sisters were sitting in the verandah in earnest con- 
’ clave when he arrived. It struck him that Lady Horace 
looked very pale and ill, and that she had been crying, 
i Elsie was flushed and excited. She laughed gaily when she 
i-'?:saw Trant, and came forward with outstretched hand. Per- 
haps she was pleased to be relieved from the tete-d-tMe with 
-In a. 

“ Why didn’t you come down for the ball ? ” she asked. 

' “ I was kept on business,” said Trant. “ You don’t sup- 

pose I didn’t want to be at the ball, did you. Miss Valliant ? ” 
j “ I don’t know,” said Elsie. “ It was a very good ball — 
at least so they said.” 

“ Why do you say ‘ they said ’ ? ” asked Trant. “ Weren’t 
j you there ? ” 

, “ Oh, yes ; I was there, and I fulfilled my mission of 

' making the Leichardt’s Town ladies jealous. The Prince 
j danced with me, and he did not dance with any other of the 
I girls. Ina was honoured ; but then she is not a Leichardt's 
Town girl now. He didn’t dance with any of the others, 

^ did he, Ina ? ” 


230 


OUTLA W AND LA W MAKER. 


“No,” said Ina, “he danced with no one else — of the 
girls.” 

“ There. Think of that, Mr. Trant ! It may be written 
on my tombstone! ‘She danced with a Prince.’ There 
was nothing possible for me after that. I came away. That’s 
why I don’t know much about the ball.” 

Trant looked mystified. “ Is it true ? ” he said. 

“ Is what true ? ” 

“ You know well enough ; what they are saying every- 
where. At Fermoy’s they can talk of nothing else.” 

“ Yes, it is true. Ina, you are not going ? ” 

“ By the way. Lord Horace told me to tell you that he 
wanted you,” said Trant ; it seems rather a blunt way of 
putting it. Lady Horace. I give the message as it was 
given.” 

Ina took up her gloves and parasol. “ It is to settle 
about going up to the Dell. Elsie, you will come ? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” said Elsie. “ Anything for a change. Good- 
bye, Ina dear. I shall see you in the evening.” 

Trant stood looking at Elsie. 

“ Why don’t you sit down ? You make me nerv- 
ous.” 

“ Come down to the boathouse,” he said. “ I want to ask 
you something.” 

“ Well, there is a horrid glare here,” replied Elsie, coolly. 
‘‘If you like, we’ll go to the steps.” 

When they were seated, she said ; “ What is it ? Please 
be melodramatic. Please be interesting. Please do some- 
thing that will make me for the moment think of you and 
nobody else.” 

“ Does that mean that you are thinking of somebody else 
in a way that is disagreeable ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“ That’s a strange confession for a young lady who has 
just gone and got herself engaged. It can’t be of Mr. Frank 
Hallett that you are thinking ? ” 

“ What does that matter to you? ” said Elsie. “ I suppose 
I may pity Mr. Hallett, if I like ? ” 


“ GOOD-BYE, ELSIE VALLIANT: 


231 


“ Upon my soul,” said Trant, “ I think he is even more to 
be pitied than I am.” 

I don’t think you are to be pitied at all. What is it 
that you wanted to ask me ? ” 

“ What has Blake got to do with this ? ” he said. 

Elsie flushed more deeply than before. ‘‘ I would rather, 
if you please, that Mr. Blake should be left out of the ques- 
tion. I think I have said that before.” 

“Yes, you have. I warned you, remember. Now look 
here, you said I might be melodi^amatic. You remember 
what I said to you here, not very long ago ? I told you that 
I always succeeded in what I had set my mind on.” 

“ I remember that you threatened to carry me off, and 
that it wasn’t quite settled whether you were to perform that 
feat — you’ll have to have a good horse, Mr. Trant, for I am 
very heavy — at one of the Leichardt’s Town tennis parties, 
or at the Government House ball, or if I am to be impris- 
oned in one of the Luya gorges — do you recollect that ? ” 

“ Yes, I recollect, and I meant it. I warn you. I am not 
a man to stand tamely by and let another man carry off the 
girl he loves ; especially when she doesn’t love that other 
mail. You in love with Frank Hallett, that stolid lump of 
respectability! You are meant for something different, 
Elsie. You are meant for life, for adventure, for emotion. 
You were meant to be a poet’s inspiring angel, or the brave 
companion of a hero’s reckless deeds.” 

I — I have heard something like that before,” said Elsie 
faintly. “But it was not you who said it.” 

“ It was Blake. And he has said it to me. Blake has 
got blood in his veins : he understands you. Blake and I 
are alike in more ways than one. We are alike anyhow in 
understanding you. But you weren’t meant for Blake, Miss 
Valliant. He wouldn’t marry you if he could. He has told 
me to ‘ go in and win,’ and I mean to win. Before the year 
is out, you will be my wufe.” 

“ Indeed, Mr. Trant, that is bold prophecy ; and now I 
think you have been melodramatic enough. Let us talk of 
something else.” 


232 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


No,’’ said Trant, bending close to her, “ not till I have 
told you again that I love you. I worship the ground you 
tread on. I worship the flowers you touch. Give me that 
rose; it can’t hurt you to do that— the one you have in your 
belt. Give it to me,” he repeated imperiously. 

It seemed to Elsie that his black eyes had something of 
the compelling power that was in Blake’s eyes. They were 
fixed full on hers, and his hand was outstretched. “ Give it 
to me,” he said again. 

Almost against her will she took out the flower and gave 
it to him. He kissed it, and put it away in his breast. “Do 
you believe that I love you ? ” he said. 

“ I suppose that you do in a kind of fashion. I wish you 
wouldn’t. It is of no use, and all this is rather amusing in 
its way, but what’s the use of it ? I never gave you any 
reason to think ” 

“ No, you never gave me any reason to think you could 
care for me, and, perhaps, that is why I am so madly in love 
with you, why I would risk heaven to win you ; not that I 
believe much in heaven, except the heaven which you could 
make for me.” 

“ Mr. Trant,” said Elsie with some little dignity, rising a& 
she spoke ; “ let us be friends, and forget all this. I am 
sorry for having let you talk to me in the way you have 
done. I have been a vain, foolish, heartless girl. I have 
only cared to amuse myself. I am afraid that I have some- 
times done it at the expense of others. I w^ant to change. 
I am going to marry a man whom I respect, and for whom 
I have the deepest affection. I should like to think that 
from now I may do nothing that will make me unworthy of 
him. Let us start afresh, and be friends, and don’t say any 
more melodramatic things.” 

“ I don’t want to start afresh,” said Trant, doggedly. “ I 
mean to go on as I have begun. I love you, and mean to 
have you — by fair means, or by foul, if fair won’t answer. 
I warn you. Don’t ever say that I didn’t. Only one thing 
I want you to know. You are the thing in the world that I 
have set my heart on, and I’ve never failed yet.” 


233 


“ GOOD-BYE, ELSIE VALLIANiy 

Elsie made no answer. She walked slowly back to the 
cottage, and Trant followed. Mrs. Valliant was in the 
verandah, and was talking to Minnie Pryde, who, as soon as 
she saw Elsie, rushed to her with a torrent of congratula- 
tions. And, oh, had it been Mr. Hallett who had given 
her the beautiful star, and would Elsie let her see it 
again ? 

No. Elsie was sorry, but she couldn’t let Minnie see the 
star. Elsie had become suddenly grave, and she seemed 
shy, and altogether, Minnie said afterwards, more like an 
ordinary engaged girl than one would have imagined possible 
in Elsie. 

Elsie had a great reception that afternoon. Mrs. Jem 
Hallett appeared, which was a wonderful condescension, but 
she had learned by some occult means that Lady Waveryng 
was going to call also. The Waveryng advent had con- 
siderably altered Mrs. Jem Hallett's views in regard to this 
alliance. She was very gracious to Elsie. Of course, she, 
Elsie, would come and stay at Tunimba. Mrs. Valliant was 
included in the invitation. And how amusing it would be 
to have the wedding on the Luya— from the Dell, a real Bush 
.wedding— Lord Horace would manage it so beautifully! 
Lord Horace was always talking about local colour, and they 
might have a procession of blacks, and King Tommy, of 
Yoolaman, at its head. What did Lady Waveryng think 
of that ? and perhaps it might be worth Lord Waveryng’s 
while to put off the New Zealand trip. 

Everybody had gone when Frank came. Elsie was 
grateful to him for the tact which had kept him away. 
She was grateful, too, for his calm, matter-of-fact way of 
taking the situation. There were no lover’s raptures. He 
made no claims. ' It was with bashful humility that he 
asked to be allowed to put a ring on her finger. 

“Everyone will wonder why you haven’t an engage- 
ment ring,” he said, and took it from its case. “ I thought 
you’d like diamonds best,” he added, awkwardly. The ring 
was magnificent. Elsie could hardly have believed that 
Leichardt’s Town could furnish forth anything so perfect. 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


23i 

She told him so, and again she held up her face baby fash- 
ion for a kiss. 

He kissed her with more lingering tenderness than he 
had done the night before. “ Elsie,” he said, “ there’s one 
thing I want you to understand. Your happiness is first of 
all things to me ; far, far beyond my own. You have given 
yourself generously, my darling, and you say you won’t 
make any reservations. Well, this is what I want you really 
to take in and think over. If ever you have any doubts or 
regrets ; if ever you get to feel that you’d be happier with 
another man, you are as free as though this had never been 
put on your finger. You’ve only got to tell me. I’ll never 
reproach you, or make it hard for you. I’ll help you all I 
can and in whatever way I can— if not as your lover and 
husband, then as your brother.” 

The tears were in Elsie’s eyes. “ Frank,” she said, “ we 
will never speak again of what I told you the other night. 
We turn over the leaf, and begin a new page from to-day.” 
Then, as if determined that there should not be any more 
sentiment, she rattled on about her afternoon’s visitors, and 
Mrs. Jem’s cordiality, and the coming visit to the Luya, and 
the picnic which Prank had promised her. 

There was one ordeal which Elsie had to face, and which 
she dreaded more than anything connected with her en- 
gagement. This was the meeting with Blake. The Prince 
went away the next day, and Blake, in his capacity of min- 
ister, went with the Government House party and the 
officials, and the great people of Leichardt’s Town, to see 
him on board the man-of-war in the bay. Elsie did not go, 
though upon this occasion she had been invited, and the 
Prince expressed deep regret at her absence. Ina went with 
the Waveryngs, as in duty bound, and had the pleasure of 
discussing her sister’s engagement with Lord Astar and re- 
ceiving his congratulations. She would gladly have avoided 
him, but it was hardly possible, and Ina did not know what 
had taken place at the Government House ball. She had 
only a vague feeling, founded upon something which Lord 
Horace had indignantly reported of the club gossip, that 


GOOD-BYE, ELSIE VALLIANTY 235 

Elsie had placed herself in a false position by her too open 
flirtation. 

Frank Hallett did not go down to the bay with the other 
great people of Leichardt’s Town. He stayed and spent part 
of the day with his fiancee. Ina was a good deal left to her- 
self that day, for Lord Horace, to Lady Waveryng’s annoy- 
ance, was making himself rather unpleasantly conspicuous 
with Mrs. Allanby. Lord Horace had, as Lord Waveryng 
put it, a little too much champagne on board. Lady Waver- 
yng had come to the conclusion that the sooner her brother 
went to the Dell the better. Everybody was a little glad 
that the royal festivities had come to an end. It was Blake 
who paid attention to Ina, and saw that she had everything 
she wanted, and was taken care of. Ina had always dis- 
liked Blake. To-day she felt almost tenderly to him. She 
was certain from the way in which he had alluded to Elsie’s 
coming marriage that he had a tenderness for her, and 
would, if he could, have married her himself. Ina never 
stopped to inquire why he could not marry Elsie. It seemed 
a received fact that Blake was not a marrying man. 

It is rather the fashion in Leichardt’s Town during the 
Session for members to pay calls in the morning. Blake 
walked across the paddock from Fermoy’s the next day, and 
found Elsie alone and in the verandah sewing. 

He came so softly that she did not even hear the gate 
click. When she saw that it was Blake she got up in some 
confusion, and then sat down again very pale. 

‘‘ I beg your pardon for coming so early,” he said, “ I 
have got to be at the House — that is one of the penalties of 
being a minister now.” 

” Yes,” she said faintly. 

“ I want to ask you,” he went on, “ to forget an episode 
which I bitterly regret, and to let me be your friend. I 
asked you the other night not to think too hardly of me. I 
ask it again now.” 

“ I don’t think hardly of you,” Elsie answered, in a low 
voice, not lifting her eyes. “ I think hardly of myself. I 
have had a bitter lesson.” 

IG 


236 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Poor child ! ” he exclaimed, in a moved voice ; and he 
turned his face away as if to hide the pain he felt. ‘‘ You 
humiliate me,” he cried ; “ you are a noble woman and a 
true woman. And I — but if you knew everything you 
would not blame me so much.” 

“ I don’t blame you,” Elsie said, her voice, too, quaver- 
ing. “ I have told you so, I — I ought to thank you, Mr. 
Blake,” she cried impulsively. I feel somehow that you 
didn’t want to hurt me, and that you don’t quite despise 
me” 

“ God knows that is true enough,” he said. 

“ Then,” she went on, still with impulsive eagerness, 
“ let us agree to forget all this winter in Leichardt’s Town. 
Let us begin afresh from to-day and be friends — good 
friends.” She held out her hand. He took it in his, and 
looked at her wistfully. 

“ You see,” she said, embarrassed by his gaze, and trying 
hard to be calm, “ I have made a new beginning for myself. 
I want to he different and to be more worthy — of — ’’ she 
hesitated — “ of the man I am going to marry.” 

“ Elsie,” he cried, “ tell me, are you happy ?” 

“ Yes, I am happy,” she answered, after a moment’s 
pause and struggling with all in her that was rebellious. 
“ I am happy. Frank Hallett’s future wife ought to be 
happy.” 

“ You are right,” he answered. “ To me henceforth you 
will he Frank Hallett’s wife ; the wife of one of the best 
fellows that ever lived. You will be no longer Elsie Yal- 
liant after to-day. Good-bye, Elsie Valliant.” 

He raised her hand to his lips, kissed it passionately, and 
left her without another word. 


^^THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAT 237 


CHAPTER XXV. 

“the colonial secretary on the luya.” 

Luya Dell was in a state of excitement. Workmen 
were busy at the new house, and curious looking “ lean-to’s ” 
had been extemporized under the white gum trees at the 
back of the homestead. Lord Horace was in his element. 
He was determined to impress his sister and her husband 
with a true idea of Australian picturesqueness. He had 
been for some time beating up the blacks for a corroboree. 
He would have beaten the kangaroo coverts if that had been 
necessary. He had beaten up the youths of the neighbour- 
hood, distinguished by their “ local colour,” which was Lord 
Horace’s way of characterizing Australianisms. He was 
organizing a wild-horse hunt, and would have cheerfully 
consented to being “ bailed up ” by Moonlight and his gang 
as an exemplification of his theory of Bush romance. His 
one regret was that neither “Em Waveryng” nor his 
brother-in-law had any notion of the artistic values as ap- 
plied to a pioneering life. 

The Waveryngs had put in a trip to some great sheep- 
station, between the Leichardt’s Town season and the visit 
to the Dell, and this interval and the assistance of Lord Wa- 
veryng’s provisionary cheque, had enabled Lord Horace to 
prepare for festivities. Lord Waveryng had since drawn 
another cheque, and Lord Horace had rushed into the 
Tunimba drawing-room one day, radiant with glee, to an- 
nounce that the Dell was now out of the hands of the bank, 
and that the creek was dammed, water laid on, and the tiled 
bath-room of the new house near completion. 

Mrs. Jem Hallett raised her eyebrows slightly. She was 
a good woman of business. 

“Waveryng has gone into partnership with me,” said 
Lord Horace. “ We are going to breed stud cattle.” 

“ You had better breed kangaroos and sell their hides for 
^ saddles,” said Jem Hallett, with his fat laugh, 
i' Lord Horace was offended. 


238 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“I don’t know why Waveryng and I shouldn’t do as 
well with our stud cattle as Blake and Trant at Barolin 
Gorge have done with their stud horses.” 

“ By the way,” said Mrs. Jem Hallett, “ have you heard 
anything about Mr, Blake ? I have written to ask him to 
come and stay. Frank and Elsie are bent on the picnic to 
Barolin Waterfall, and he made me promise to let him know 
when it was coming off.” 

“Blake has taken ministerial leave, and has disappeared,” 
said Jem Hallett. “I heard somebody say that he was 
hipped at Elsie’s engagement.” 

Jem Hallett’s “ chaff ” was truly Australian in its direct- 
ness. Elsie, who was paying her first visit to Tunimba as 
Frank Hallett’s affianced wife, coloured ; and Frank looked 
annoyed. 

“ He is inspecting the northern police department,” he 
said quietly, “ and he will be down in Leichardt’s Town 
directly.” 

“ He had better inspect the southern police department,” 
said a squatter of the neighbourhood, who was staying at 
Tunimba. “ It’s a disgrace to the colony that they haven’t 
caught Moonlight.” 

“ Oh, Moonlight has been keeping quiet since that Wal- 
laroo business.” said Jem. “ Perhaps he has left the dis- 
trict.” And then Lord Horace declared his ardent desire to 
have the Dell bailed up during tlie Waveryngs’ visit. “ Em 
says she is going to write a book of her doings and im- 
pressions in the Antipodes,” he said ; “ and I’d give any- 
thing for her to have a real live bushranger adventure.” 

“ It might be managed, perhaps,” said Blake himself, who 
entered that very moment, accompanied by his partner, 
Dominic Trant. 

There was a general confusion, and a volley of exclama- 
tions. Blake shook hands with Mrs. Jem, and apologized 
for having taken her unawares. He was on his way to Bar- 
blin. He intended, he said, to take advantage of her invita- 
tion later. He then went straight to Elsie, who gave him 
her hand without speaking. She had turned a little paler, 


I “ THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAT 239 

and before he had been in the room five minutes she made 
I an excuse to leave it, and strolled out into the garden with 
I Frank. 

Blake watched them uneasily through the French win- 
1 dows which opened on to the verandah. So did Trant. 
I Mrs. Jem, who was an observant person, noticed that Blake 
t looked pale and worn. Trant, she thought, had more than 
ever the desperado air. Jem Hallett clumsily chaffed the 
Colonial Secretary on the failure of the police to bring 
Moonlight to justice. 

‘‘ There’s a chance for him,” said Lord Horace, ‘‘ if he 
only knew it. My sister. Lady Waveryng, has done the 
maddest thing, all through some stupid mistake of her 
maid, and Waveryng’s man — so much for being dependent 
on old servants ! ” 

“ What have they done ? ” asked Mrs. Hallett. 
ff “Don’t give notice to the bushrangers,” said Lord Hor- 
, ace. “They have brought her diamonds with her to the 
Dell ; part of them are the historic Waveryng diamonds. 
Of course they ought to have been sent to the Bank, and 
, Waveryng insists on their being taken over to Goondi, and 
{ Captain Macpherson has promised him a police escort.” 

“Why can’t they be kept at the Dell ?” asked Mrs. Jem. 

“I suggested to Waveryng that we should lock ’em up 
, in the flour-bin in the store. It struck me as the safest 
place. No one would ever dream of looking for family dia- 
monds at the bottom of a flour-bin, would they now ? He 
doesn’t think our padlocks are safe though — tried one yes- 
terday — we don’t lock up much as a rule, at the Dell, and 
he prefers the Goondi Bank.” 

I “And what do you suppose the Waveryng diamonds 
, would be worth, roughly speaking, now ? ” asked Trant. 

“ A good many thousands,” replied Lord Horace. “ I 
wish I had the value of ’em, that’s all. Have you any ob- 
I jection to the police escort being employed on private busi- 
ness, Blake ? You needn’t be afraid of Hallett asking a 
I question about it in the House. He is the only member of 
j the Opposition here just now.” 


240 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“I have no objection,” said Blake dreamily. “Good 
gracious ! ” and he pulled himself together. “ Why should 
I object? Of course the safety of Lady Waveryng’s dia- 
monds is a matter of concern to the State.” 

“Why, Mr. Blake,” said pretty Mrs. Allanby, from the 
depths of a squatter’s chair in the verandah, where she had 
been ensconced listening to all that was going on. “ That's 
against your principles, as a Eadical, isn’t it ? I’ve heard 
you say that there ought to be no heirlooms, and no tying 
up of capital in family jewels. We have none of us got 
any family jewels, and so you needn’t be afraid of hurting 
our feelings by saying so. Now, Lord Horace, please don’t 
hurt my hand. I have got some rings, and I wear them on 
my right hand, remember.” 

This was Mrs. Allanby’s way of covering a devotion that 
was serious to her as well as to Lord Horace. 

Mrs. Allanby had a way of rippling on, not waiting for 
an answer, emphasizing her remarks by upliftings of her 
large dark eyes in a fashion that was effective. Lord Hor- 
ace, at the sound of her voice, had darted across through 
the French window. 

“ I didn’t know you were out here. I came over to see 
you,” he murmured. 

“ What have you done with your sister and brother-in- 
law?” she asked. 

“They are looking round among the cedar cutters. Wa- 
veryng wanted to inspect the local industries. I thought 
Ina could manage that business. They only came up yes- 
terday, and it was my only chance of coming over and see- 
ing w^hen you would all come along to the Dell.” 

“You must settle that with Mrs. Hallett,” said Mrs. 
Allanby. She got up, uncoiling herself, as it were, with a 
certain serpentine grace. Mrs. Allanby was of the type of 
woman, slender, lithe, secretive, self-contained, and fasci- 
nating, which has something of the snake in it. She was 
always gentle and low voiced and plaintive; her movements 
M^ere soft, her eyes were dangerous, she had a sleek small 
head and irregular features, and a complexion sallow by 


“7W COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAT 241 


day, but wbicb at night, and when she was inwardly ex- 
cited — outwardly she never seemed excited — became bril- 
liant. She and her husband did not get on together. He was 
a brute, and had not a penny. It was her brother in New 
Zealand, she said, who found her an allowance for her per- 
sonal requirements. She stayed about a good deal, and was 
always beautifully dressed. But then she was like Elsie in 
this respect, that she had the knack of putting on her clothes, 
the gift also of millinery. Ill-natured people said of her 
that she was a terrible flirt, and intensely designing, and that 
she was looking out for someone to run away with, and so 
give Mr. All an by a chance of divorcing her, and herself and 
him a chance of a new beginning. It was certain, however, 
that her conduct was irreproachable, or Mrs. Jem Hallett 
would never have had her at Tunimba. She made herself 
very useful to Mrs. Jem, played well, recited dramat- 
ically, and was a most agreeable companion and an adroit 
flatterer. 

She and Lord Horace strolled up and down under the 
vine trellis which was now beautiful in its spring green. 
They talked low. Lord Horace had more than ever the air 
of a sun -bronzed Apollo in bushman’s garb. He was with- 
out doubt very handsome, and had that English air which 
to so many Australian women is so irresistible. Mrs. Al- 
lanby was not so clever as Elsie, and did not require intel- 
lect or even sterling worth in her admirers. She made Lord 
Horace tell her of the Waveryngs, and particularly of his 
twin sister. Em would stand by him through thick and 
thin, he declared; only Em had taken a tremendous fancy 
to Ina. 

“ Poor Ina ! ” softly murmured Mrs. Allanby. 

It was about tea-time. Mrs. Jem always had tea English 
fashion, with delicious scones and short-bread and dainti- 
nesses generally. Lord Horace delivered himself of his 
messages. Ina wanted Elsie to go over at once ; of course 
Frank might come too. Ina was consumed also, it appeared, 
with a desire for Mrs. Allan by ’s company, and of 'course — 
a half after-thought— for that of Mrs. Jem and her husband, 


242 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


only that Jem had got to be such a luxurious beggar, and 
Mrs. Jem mightn’t like to camp in the new house; he knew 
Mrs. Allanby didn’t mind, because she had told him so. 
Lord Horace proceeded to explain that they had given up 
the greater part of the Humpey proper to Lord and Lady 
Waveryng; though, bless you, “Em” didn’t mind roughing 
it — she wanted to go and milk the cows that morning — hut 
Waveryng was rheumatic and afraid of new walls. But 
there was the new tiled bathroom which must surely atone 
for all deficiencies. Even at Tunimba they couldn’t boast a 
tiled bathroom. 

Mrs. Jem thought it would be delightful to ride over for 
the day. Of course if Mrs. Allanby liked to stay there was 
nothing to prevent her, but she (Mrs. Jem) was rather tied 
by the babies; and Jem had his mustering, and it would be 
a much better plan, as there was so much more accommoda- 
tion at Tunimba, if she might arrange with Ina and Lady 
Waveryng to spend a few days there and have the picnic to 
Barolin on that occasion. And then Mr. Blake was appealed 
to. Was Pompo superstitious, and how near could they, 
get to the Fall, and did he think there was any truth in the 
theory Captain Macpherson had started, that Moonlight had 
a hiding-place in Mount Luya ? and did Mr. Blake know 
that Captain Macpherson had sworn to unearth the bush- 
ranger in his lair, and that he counted on the assistance of 
the Barolin half-castes for that purpose ? 

“ The Barolin half-castes were at Captain Macpherson’s 
service,” Blake said gravely, but he did not think that Moon- 
light’s lair— if he had one— was in that direction ; and as for 
the Barolin Falls, he certainly did not think they would 
prove worth the trouble of a march through a bunya scrub 
and the chance of being swallowed up in a quicksand. He 
was sure that Mrs. Hallett and Miss Valliant, to say nothing 
of Lady Waveryng, would decide that a gorge a little be- 
yond Point-row, of which he knew, was quite sufficiently 
picturesque to camp out in. 

“ It was only the camping out that mattered,” bleated 
Mrs. Allanby. “ To camp out in the very heart of the 


THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAT 243 


mountains and among the Blacks’ old Bora grounds sounded 
so delightfully romantic.” 

Then Lord Horace told them of the corroboree he was 
working, and it was decided that the Hallett party should 
stay at the Dell for this event. 

Blake seemed to avoid Elsie during this short Tuniinha 
sojourn. He and Trant were going to ride over to Barolin 
after dinner, and Lord Horace was persuaded into the 
moonlight ride also — their ways lying together for a cer- 
tain distance. Trant, however, took every opportunity of 
getting to Miss Valliant’s side, and devoured her all the 
time with his bold gaze in a manner that annoyed Hallett 
extremely. 

“ I think the fellow must have been drinking,” he said 
afterwards to his brother. “ He reminded me of that new 
chum who went on the burst, and those black eyes of his 
have a queer reckless way of staring at one.” 

But Trant had not been drinking; he was only intoxi- 
cated with love. 

“ Miss Valliant, when are you going to be married ? ” he 
said abruptly. 

“ I don’t know,” answered Elsie, composedly. She was 
not afraid of Trant ; indeed, if it must be owned, there was 
a kind of excitement in the sight of his passion, which took 
her mind away from the flatness of a wooing that had es- 
• teem only as a responding quality. “Not for sometime 
yet,” she added. 

“Well, remember,” he said, “ I mean to have my chance. 
I’ve not had my chance yet.” 

“ Your chance of what ? ” she asked. 

“ Of making you care for me ; of doing something that 
will oblige you to admire me.” 

“ I can’t imagine an opportunity for your being heroic,” 
said Elsie, “ but I shall be delighted to admire you if you 
give me an occasion for doing so.” 

“We shall see,” said Trant, darkly. 

Blake asked the same question, but in a very different 
^ tone. 


i 


244 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Will you tell me something ? ” he said humbly. “ I 
should like to know, if I may, when you are to become Mrs. 
Frank Hallett ? ” 

“ Why do you wish to know ? ” she asked, falteringly. 

“ Why ? Oh, for several foolish reasons. One is that 
I should rather like to see the last of Elsie Valliant, and 
when she is dead and buried and done for, it will be time 
for me to ‘ up stick and yan,’ as the blacks say. I am 
thinking of shifting my hurdles. Don’t I get Australian in 
my way of putting things ? ” , 

‘‘ What do you mean ? ” she asked. 

“ Only that I am tired of Australia and of Australian 
life. I have the demon of restlessness on me again. I am 
not sure that I shall not go back to Ireland, and to quote 
Lord Waveryng, ‘ face the music.’ ” 

“ But why Lord Waveryng ? ’’ 

“ Something he told me set me thinking. The Coola 
curse is on me; the curse which dooms one Blake in a gen- 
eration. I am the doomed Blake of this generation. And 
just lately the feeling has haunted me. I have the most 
curious sense of coming calamity; though I don’t know that 
it is curious,” he added thoughtfully. 

“ Oh, Mr. Blake, I can’t bear to hear you talk so reck- 
lessly. And there’s no reason for it. It is some strange 
fancy that you have in your mind. Why should you be 
doomed ? — you who have been so successful, who have every- 
thing in the world to make you happj^ ? ” 

“ Have I ? Everything in the world to make me happy ! 
There is one thing wanting for that, Miss Valliant, and it 
was offered me by fate on a certain moonlight night, not 
very long since, and I took it in my arms, and I let it go 
again ” 

‘‘ What do you mean ? ” she asked again, growing very 
pale. 

“Nothing that there is any use in saying. I must not 
see too much of you, or I may be doing something for which 
I should be sorry. A man can be brave and cool enough, 
and hard enough in a crisis, you know. Miss Valliant. It is 


THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAP 245 


when the crisis is over that he gets unnerved.” He gave an 
odd laugh, that seemed to her intensely sad. “ This is wild 
talk for a sober, staid Colonial Secretary of Leichardt’s Land. 
What would Mr. Torbolton say if he could hear me ? But I 
have got the Celtic temperament, and I can’t help my queer 
forebodings and superstitions and mad impulses, and gen- 
erally melodramatic way of looking at things, and you know 

I said to you once a man must follow his star ” 

“ I don’t want to interrupt you,” put in Lord Horace. 
‘‘ But if you are going to ride over with me this evening, 
Elsie, we ought to be seeing about the horses. What sized 
swag shall you have ? ” 

“ I am not coming to-night,” said Elsie, rousing herself as 
if from a dream. “ Frank will bring me over to-morrow.” 
j “Oh, Elsie, dear,” cried Mrs. Allanby, reproachfully. 

; “ And I had set my heart on that moonlight ride ! Think 

1 how beautiful Mount Luya would look from the gorges ! 
It would be so romantic.” 

I “ Has not a moonlight ride through the gorges any attrac- 
: tion for you ? ” said Blake, in a low voice. 

“Yes,” she answered, in as low a voice as his. 

“ Then why don’t you come ? ” 

She did not answer. 

“ Are you afraid of me ? ” 

“ No,” she answered. 

“You will have your future husband to take care of 

I you,” he said bitterly. “ I promise not to annoy you with 
wild talk.” 

I “ It does not annoy me, it only makes me ” 

' “ What — contemptuous of my weakness ? ” 

■ “No, no — Mr. Blake, you remember, we agreed to let 
; • the past be past. We agreed to be friends. Will you let 
me be your friend, your sister, and tell me, as you would tell 
I your sister, what it is that is troubling you ? ” 

“ I will tell you some time,” he said ; “ but not now, and 

not as I would tell my sister. I will tell you ” 

He paused. His eyes fixed themselves on her with doubt 
^ and tenderness, in a way that thrilled Elsie. 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


2i0 

‘‘ When will you tell me ? ” she asked. 

“ The day before you are married,” he answered. 

Mrs. Allanby came purring towards her. 

“Do go with them to-night.” 

“ Very well,” said Elsie, abruptly. “ 1 have changed my 
mind, Horace. We will go.” 

They set out after an early dinner. Was there ever such 
a September night ?— fragrant with aromatic gum and the 
white-cedar flowers, full of strange sweet noises and mysteri- 
ous rustlings, and plaintive calls of curlew and swamp 
pheasant ; and as they rode by the creek, the uncanny 
swishing of the wings of startled wild duck. The moun- 
tains stood forth clear against the sky. Lord Horace had 
exaggerated when he spoke of a moonlight ride, and Mrs. 
Allanby called him to account for inaccuracy. It was only 
a horned moon yet, but it was brilliant, and the stars were 
bright and the station horses knew the track well. But it 
was only when they crossed the little plains in the river- 
bends that there was any opportunity for tete-d-tetes. For 
the greater part of the way the road was too narrow to allow 
of two riding abreast. Trant enlivened the night with his 
songs. He, too, seemed in a wild mood, but it did not direct 
itself especially towards Elsie. 

Frank Hallett kept close to his fiancee. He had asked 
her if she would like him to ride with her. There were 
times when he almost maddened Elsie by his submission to 
her moods, and by his resigned acceptance of the fact that 
she loved Blake. 

“ Forget it, forget it,” she had said wildly that very 
evening. “ Yes, ride with me — don’t leave me for an in- 
stant.” 

And so he remained near her bridle rein, and had Blake 
wished it he could not have talked to her. He fell behind 
with Trant, and for some little time the two carried on a 
low- toned conversation, in which there were dissentient 
notes born occasionally to Elsie, who was nearest in ad- 
vance. Once in a sudden bend of the track, where the 
trees grew thick, her habit hooked itself to a jagged branch, 


THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYAT 247 


thus detaining her for a moment or two, and she caught 
what they were saying. Trant was speaking angrily. 

“ Look here, I’m not going to let this chance go because 
of any damned sentimentality on your part. The thing is 
as simple as A.B.C., and I intend to carry it through.” 

“We will discuss the matter later,” said Blake, haugh- 
tily. 

“ No, we’ve got to be on the spot, and you’d better settle 
to-night about going over to-morrow.” 

Blake’s horse almost cannoned against Elsie’s as he came 
round the bend, and she lifted a frightened face from the 
disentangling of her skirt. 

“ Miss Valliant, can I help you ? ” 

He had dismounted instantly. 

“It is only my habit caught ; oh, thank you, Frank.” 
Frank had turned hastily, not having perceived the acci- 
dent. “It’s all right, I’m clear now.” 

She rejoined her lover. A moment ago her breast had 
been stirred with a strange revolt. She had moodily watched 
his square determined bushman’s back as he jogged along in 
front of her, and had compared it with Blake’s easy, grace- 
ful, rather rakish bearing. Why was Frank so stolid, so 
good, so commonplace ? There were moments in which she 
felt that Trant, in even his secondrateness, was the more 
interesting of the two. Now she had a sudden reaction. 
The words she had heard had given her a sense of doubt, 
repulsion, and insecurity. What was the secret in the life of 
Blake, which made him speak so strangely — which made 
him different from all the other men she knew ? Perhaps 
it was not a romantic, an heroic secret, a fateful mystery for 
which he was not responsible, but the secret of unworthy 
deeds — of a 'past of which he was ashamed — a past with 
which Trant was linked — nay, a present, for had not Trant’s 
words implied some sort of immediate action ? What did it 
mean ? What could it mean ? Elsie shuddered as though 
something unclean had touched her. There was peace and 
safety with Frank. She rode close to him, but she said 
nothing. All the time her mind was tossed wuth wonder 


248 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and suspicion and dread. By-and-by they came to the fork 
of the Luya, and the two roads branched in different direc- 
tions — that to Barolin going as it seemed into the moun- 
tains — into the heart of Mount Luya, while the way to the 
Dell led round the mountain and now over comparatively 
easy ground. 

They all reined in their horses, and said good-night. 

“Mind, I shall expect you some time to-morrow,” said 
Lord Horace. “ How long are you spared from your minis- 
terial duties, Blake ? ” 

“ Oh, I’m fairly free,” he answered, “ that’s the beauty of 
being a responsible member of the Cabinet.” 

“And old Stukeley has gone to his summer retreat on 
the Ubi, so that you won’t be overdone with meetings of the 
Executive, and Torbolton and Grierson of the ‘ Lands ’ are 
deep in the budget and the new Land Bill. The Colonial 
Secretary ought to have a pretty easy time— only Moonlight 
on your conscience ! ” said Lord Horace. 

“ Yes, only Moonlight on my conscience,” and both Blake 
and Trant laughed, again Elsie fancied in that odd way they 
both sometimes had. 

“ Well, Macpherson, of the Police, is to turn up at the Dell 
some time, and you had much better meet him there and con- 
sult. It’s handier to Goondi than the Gorge. And mind, 
Lady Waveryng is countin’ on that escort for her diamonds. 
Whatever happens, the Waveryng diamonds have got to be 
looked after.” 

“ Oh, yes,” cried Trant. “ Whatever happens, the Waver- 
yng diamonds have got to be looked after. You’ll see us 
over at the Dell, Horace. Good-night.” 

Lord Horace did not relish being called Horace pure and 
simple by Dominic Trant. “ Confound the fellow’s cheek ! ” 
he said to Mrs. Allanby, but his sense of humour got the bet- 
ter of his irritation. “ He makes me think of that chap at 
the Bean-tree, Frank, when we were canvassing, and I was 
trying on the aristocratic dodge. ‘ Lord ! He a lord ! Lords 
don’t live in bark huts. I ain’t agoin' to call him lord. He’s 
just as much a lord as I am.’ 


COPY'' FOR LADY WAVERYNG. 


249 


“ And the chap was quite ri^^ht,” said Lord Horace, “ and 
he made me feel ashamed of myself. Handles should be 
dropped in a free country, especially when they’re only 
handles by courtesy.” 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

“copy” for lady WAVERYNG. 

The Waveryngs were a success. Ina was perhaps hap- 
pier with “ Em Waveryng ” than she had been during her 
short married life. Em was sweet, warm-hearted, and utter- 
ly without affectation. She had no nonsense about her, 
and in spite of her weak devotion to Lord Horace, she was 
not by any means blind to his faults. She was, however, 
like a doting mother who pardons everything to her 
darling, and is prepared in the long run to uphold his 
vagaries. Lady Waveryng, notwithstanding, found it 
a little difficult to pardon Lord Horace for Mrs. Al- 
lanby. 

She was sufficiently ill-advised to speak to Ina on the 
subject of Lord Horace’s flirtation. But Ina would have 
none of it. She was exaggerated in her defence of her hus- 
band. Lady Waveryng reported what she had said to her 
1 brother, and Lord Horace w^ent in a shame-faced kind of 
I way to his wife. 

i “ Em says you have been fightin’ for me like a bantam 
hen for her chick,” he said. “Don’t do that, my dear. You 
, may come to find that I don’t deserve it.” 

I Something in his tone struck Ina. 

I “ Why do you say that, Horace ? ” she said« 

“ Because it’s true. I’m a bad lot— always was. You 
know I told you before I married you that I couldn’t see a 
pretty woman without wanting to flirt wdth her.” 

1 “ Yes, I know you did. And I don’t mind in the least 
your flirting with Mrs. Allanby.” 

“ By Jove, I see that plainly enough,” he answered sulki- 


250 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


]y. ‘‘ If you minded and made a row sometimes, life would 

be a little more amusing.” 

Ina’s .soft face flushed. “ I know that Mrs. Allanby is 
much cleverer than I am, and altogether more the kind of 
woman that men admire,” she said, with some dignity. “ I 
am quite willing that you should amuse yourself. I am 
quite aware that you have not always found me very enter- 
taining. I— I often think, Horace, that our marriage was a 
great mistake ” — Ina’s voice faltered, but she went bravely 
on — “ still it is a mistake that cannot be mended now. And 
if I thought you were wronging either Mrs. Allanby or me, 
or yourself by your flirtation, I think you would And that I 
did mind a little, and that I should not hesitate to say so.” 

Lord Horp.ce did not answer for a minute or two ; then 
he said, “Why do you say that our marriage is a mis- 
take ? ” 

“ Because you yourself have told me so,” Ina answered. 

“ That was only when I was in a rage, and the cooking 
was abominable. A fellow who has been accustomed to a 
decent style of life in England can’t be expected to put, up 
with Australian roughness.” 

“ I thought you called it picturesque,” said Ina with un- 
conscious sarcasm. 

“ So it is — the outside of it. And there’s a freedom 
about it that’s splendid. I never could stand all that cut 
and dried conventionalism of English society, and even 
English sport. Over there it’s all a question of money. 
Given a certain income and you know exactly what you 
can afford to have. You can’t have a moor and a deer 
forest on a precarious six hundred a year. Here you can 
have as good, and no scale of income to measure by. But 
I suppose I’m like the boy who wanted to have his cake 
and eat it too. The life is magnificent — out of doors — 
only I want indoor comfort as well, and I’m getting a little 

tired of it. I tell you what, Ina ” he stopped rather 

guiltily. 

“ What are you going to tell me ? ” she asked presently. 

“ Nothing ; only if Waveryng is as good as his word, 


COPY’’ FOR LADY WAVFRYFG. 


251 


and the investments turn out as they ought, we might put a 
manager here and take a run home.” 

He had been discussing it with Mrs. Allanby the night 
before. Ina said nothing. 

Lord Horace was very full of his corroboree. ‘‘ I don’t 
know what you fellows of the Executive will do to me,” he 
said to Blake, who with the rest of the Dell party was 
lounging in the verandah of the Humpey. “I’ve been 
j doing my best to get up a war among the natives. There’s 
three tribes of them,” he went on to explain — “ the Moongan 
and the Barolin and the Durundur, and they are all at log- 
gerheads with each other. It’s quite a romantic affair, a 
sort of Paris and Helen and Siege of Troy business.” 

“ Oh, do tell us,” murmured Mrs. Allanby. 

“ Is he cramming me ? ’’ observed Lady Waveryng. “ Re- 
member I am going to write a book. Let us hear the Blacks’ 
Iliad, Horace.” 

“ This is it. Paris— otherwise Luya Tommy— ran away 
with Helen, commonly called Bean Tree Bessy. Paris is a 
Moongan. Helen is of the Barolins. Helen has a husband 
w'ho is of the Durundur tribe, and he is a chief also, and not 
by any means of a complaisant turn of mind. He resents 
the theft of his wife, or else his terms for the transfer are 
too high to be within Paris Tommy’s means. Menelaus 
Tommy — they are both Tommies — is disposed for battle, and 
the Durundurs are a mighty tribe, so that the only chance 
for Paris and Helen, there being no Troy convenient, is in 
the Barolins and the Moongans joining forces and fighting 
the Durundurs, and this is what I have been trying to com- 
pass — all for the benefit of your book of travels, Em, so I 
think it is rather hard of you to throw doubts on my ve- 
racity. ” 

“ I have promised you the proceeds of that book anyhow, 
Horace,” put in Lady Waveryng “ so that you are an inter- 
i ested party.” 

j “Oh! then that accounts for Horace’s zeal, and now I 
I understand why he was so anxious to soothe the free-select- 
I ors and the cedar-cutters, who object to have the Blacks en- 
: ' 17 


252 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


couraged about the place,” said Lord Waveryng. “ It’s all 
with a view to ultimate profit in providing copy for my 
lady.” 

“ I’ve managed it,” Lord Horace went on tiiumphantly, 
“ with a considerable expenditure of rum and tobacco — doled 
out in driblets. If I had given it in a lump, the Tommies, 
Paris and Menelaus, might have struck a bargain, and the 
dramatic motif of the corroboree would have been done for. 
Yesterday there was a little throwing of spears, and the end 
of it is that the Moongans and the Barolins have agreed at 
my suggestion to have a big corroboree and a ‘ woolla’ — 
that’s what they call their Parliamentary Council, Em — the 
night after to-morrow, and then to go forth and fight the 
Durundurs. Get your note book ready, Em dear. It’s to be 
a real swagger thing in corroborees.” 

Lady Waveryng’s book v/as a stock joke. It afforded a 
pretext for the trotting out of all the oddities available, and 
gave point to the various expeditions and bush experiences. 
She insisted upon learning everything that had to do with 
station routine, and handled saddles as if she had been born 
in a stockman’s hut, and she was learning to crack a stock 
whip, to plait a dilly-bag, and to make a damper. Lord 
Waveryng took life less enthusiastically, perhaps because 
he was a little gouty. Pacing and stud cattle were his hob- 
bies, and he was interested in the Barolin and Tunimba 
breeds, and rode about a good deal, admiring the scenery and 
getting a fair amount of amusement out of the free-selectors 
and the proprietors of the grog-shanties. 

A black boy was despatched to Tunimba, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Jem Hallett turned up the next day in time for break- 
fast. The party was a large one, for Blake and Trant were 
there also, and naturally Frank Hallett, and besides the 
Waveryngs, Mrs. Allanby and Elsie. 

Elsie was strangely subdued, indeed almost melancholy. 
Do what she would to distract her thoughts — and surely in 
the attentions of her lover and the discussion of future plans 
there was enough to distract them —she could not keep them 
away from Blake, and the mystery of his life — for she was 


CWF” FOR LADY WAVERYNG. 


253 


certain there was a mystery. Apart from Blake and her im- 
mediate matrimonial prospects, Lady Waveryng as the 
typical aristocrat, the embodiment of that sphere of life for 
which Elsie had always vainly sighed, afforded fertile subject 
for reflection. Elsie could not help being impressed by 
Lady Waveryng’s thorough-bred simplicity, her dignity, 
com.bined with perfect freedom of manner, her absolute re- 
■ finement, and all those delicate niceties, and all those inde- 
i finable characteristics which make up what is technically 
j termed among the lower classes a “ real lady,” as distin- 
I guished from a fine lady. Lady Waveryng was a “ real 
j lady,” but she was not in the very least a fine lady — except 
indeed when she was in her full panoply of diamonds and 
velvet and Venetian point. Elsie pondered a good deal 
|: upon these qualities of Lady Waveryng’s. She began to 
realize how entirely impossible it would have been for Lady 
j; Waveryng to do many of the things which she, Elsie, had 
done so ignorantly and so innocently. She could not imagine 
] Lady Waveryng “on the rampage for beaux,” which was 

[ Minnie Pryde’s inelegant way of expressing a fashion pecul- 
iar to some of the faster young ladies of Leichardt’s Town, 
of sauntering about the Botanical Gardens, or up and down 
! Victoria-street, ready to meet the salutations of their admir- 
' ers with smiling readiness for flirtation. She could not 
1 imagine Lady Waveryng holding verandah receptions, or 
I receiving tribute from her various adorers, or allowing her- 
i' self to be taken home by a young man after a dance like a 
j servant maid keeping company. Elsie grew hot and red as 
; she thought of that walk from Fermoy’s, of many other 
. walks, of many other episodes. She was unconsciously 
learning lessons. She would never again be the Elsie Val- 
liant who had “ got engaged ” to Jensen, for fun, and broken 
the young man’s heart, the Elsie Valliant who had chal- 
lenged Blake to a flirtation tournament, and who had been 
the object of Lord Astar’s disrespectful attentions. 


254 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

“the corroboree.” 

Yet never had Elsie seemed sweeter, more womanly 
than at this time. All who remarked her observed that her 
engagement had greatly improved Miss Valliant. Blake 
watched her closely, and made up his mind that she was un- 
happy. But beyond the ordinary intercourse of a bush house, 
w'hich necessarily implies a good deal of familiarity, he did 
not seek her society. And she made no effort to force his 
confidence, or to talk to him from the inner view of things. 
She only wondered within herself whether he and Trant 
had settled their differences as to the matter of that enter- 
prise, whatever it might be, in which Blake’s “ damned 
sentimentality” stood in the way. She speculated much 
upon the nature of that sentimentality, and even con- 
jectured whether it could possibly have any relation to 
herself. 

There was no lack of interest and amusement at the 
Dell. Lord Horace was a good host ; and Ina in her 
quietude and gentleness made her guests happy. She was 
gentle and sweet to Mrs. Allanby, who must have been a 
serpent indeed could she have overtly prosecuted schemes for 
the undermining of poor Ina’s happiness. As for the men, 
they had plenty to do. There was duck shooting on the 
creek, and an attempt at a shooting luncheon, which became 
a very scrambling picnic, in which no pair could apparently 
succeed in finding any other pair. The day after Jem Hal- 
let’s coming was signalized by the wild-horse chase, from 
which the ladies were naturally excluded, though Lady 
Waveryng pleaded hard to be allowed to risk her neck, but 
in which Lord Waveryng joined with some trepidation, and 
the promise of a black boy in attendance to steer him home, 
should he find the country too rough. He came home, 
however, safe and sound, swinging a chestnut tail as a 
trophy, and full of Blake’s feats of horsemanship and the 
magnificent performances of the Barolin horses as bestridden 


THE corroboree: 


255 

by the two half castes, Pompo and Jack Nutty, and the 
stockman, Sam Shehan. 

“ Never came across' such fellows for sticking. They're 
like the what do you-call-’ems in the Greek mythology. And 
to see the places they went up and down, and the astonishing 
knack they had of disax3pearing over a precipice, and getting 
swallowed up in a gulley,” Lord Waveryng said. “ They 
seemed to know every inch of the country. I tell you what 
it is, I am not surprised at your failing to catch Moon- 
light’s gang if it’s made up of natives and colonials of the 
pattern of Mr. Sam Shehan and the half-castes.” 

He addressed Captain Macpherson, who had aj)- 
peared almost simultaneously with the wild-horse party, 
only from an opposite direction. He had come from 
Goondi, where there had been what he called a “ mining 
ruction.” 

Captain Macpherson had brought with him some police 
reports and subject matter for conference with his chief. 
The new Colonial Secretary, he informed Lord Waveryng, 
showed an extraordinary aptitude for the details of his de- 
Ijartment, and especially for those connected with the police 
force. In the matter of Moonlight, indeed, the instructions 
from headquarters had been unusually precise and frequent. 
The police had been sent hither and thither on what had 
turned out to be mistaken information. Anyhow, there 
had been two more robberies of gold escorts, and Moonlight 
was not yet captured. As he expatiated at dinner upon the 
zeal of his chief, Captain Macpherson wondered why Lord 
Waveryng laughed dryly, and why Blake himself seemed 
to see a sardonic jest where certainly none was intended. 
Macpherson resented, as an impertinence, Trant’s somewhat 
Mephistophelian laugh. 

“A distinct humour in the suggestion, eh ? ” said Lord 
Waveryng later, in the verandah, lighting his cigar, and 
looking curiously at Blake as he spoke. “ Control of the 
police force ! Seems odd, don’t it ? ” 

“ Extremely odd,” replied Blake, imperturbably. “ I quite 
agree with you. There is a distinct humour in the situ- 


256 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


ation. Possibly, my dear lord, a deeper humour than even 
you are aware of.” 

“ How about my lady’s diamonds ? ” asked Captain Mac- 
pherson, strolling out into the verandah. 

“Oh, Captain Macpherson,” cried Lady Waveryng, 
“ do relieve me from the responsibility of these wretched 
things ! How Briggs could have misunderstood me, and 
how she could have supposed that I should want my jewels 
in the Bush, I can’t imagine. I never wore them except dur- 
ing that week with the Prince. She and Lord Waveryng’s 
man had distinct orders that they were to be placed in the 
Bank.” 

“ I am afraid, my dear, that your orders weren't very 
clear,” said Lord Waveryng, rather grimly. “I never 
knew Prentiss misunderstand any order of mine.” 

“ Wliere are the diamonds now ? ” asked Captain Mac- 
pherson. 

“ In the medicine chest, lying in the trays where lint and 
diachylon plaster and surgical appliances belong,” said Lord 
Horace. “Fortunately, it’s a large medicine chest. That is 
the only receptacle in the house that has a safe key, and 
they put a Bramah lock on it, on account of the poisons.” 

“ Horace wanted us to put them in the sugar bin,” said 
Lady Waveryng. 

“No, Em. The flour bin, I said, it’s deeper. And sugar 
is sticky, especially ration sugar, and the after associations 
might have been unpleasant. However, Waveryng preferred 
the medicine chest, which during the day is watched in turn 
by Miss Briggs and Mr. Prentiss, my lady’s woman and my 
lord’s man.” 

“And indeed,” said Elsie, “it only needs candles and a 
pall to make one think that they are watching a corpse.” 

“ Mr. Prentiss occasionally flourishes a pocket revolver,” 
observed Lord Horace, “and Miss Briggs has, I believe, 
armed herself with a cutting-up knife from the meat-store.” 

“ I am sure that it would be a brave robber who tackled 
Briggs,” said Lady Waveryng. 

At night, ’ continued Lord Horace, “^V^averyng sleeps 


^^THE corroboree: 


257 


on the medicine chest, and keeps a carbine on his pillow. I 
warn any here who may be burglariously inclined that those 
diamonds are not to be filched without bloodshed.” 

“ And my waking hours are made hideous by Lord Waver- 
yng’s reproaches for my carelessness,” said Lady Waveryng 
plaintively: “and my dreams are haunted by troops of past 
and future Waveryngs bewailing the loss of those historic 
jewels.” 

“ Are they really historic ? and are they really so valua- 
ble, my lady?” put in Trant in that rather obsequious man- 
ner which had annoyed Elsie at first, and now jarred on 
Lady Waveryng. 

“They are certainly historic,” she answered, curtly; 
“ though I can’t say it is much to the credit of the family, 
since the finest of them were a present from Charles II. to 
a fair, but frail. Lady Betty, who was an ancestress of my 
husband's, and they are supposed to have been part of 
the Crown jewels. They are considered valuable by con- 
noisseurs.” 

“ Well,” said Captain Macpherson, “if it will relieve your 
mind, my lady, I am expecting a company of four troopers 
from over the border to meet me here to night ; and they’ll 
take your diamonds in charge and start with them at day- 
break to morrow for Goondi, where they will deposit them 
safe in the Bank, till you go back to Leichardt’s Town. — 
What is the matter, Trant ? ” 

Trant had risen and was peering over the palisading of 
the high verandah out into the night, palely illuminated by 
a moon nearing its full. 

” Only I thought I heard something in the creepers— a 
snake, perhaps. They are beginning to come out now. Are 
you quite wise, by the way, to talk openly about the dia- 
monds and your plans for taking them to the Bank ? How 
do you know, for instance, that Moonlight has not got a 
scout among the blacks that are hanging round for this 
corroboree ? ” 

“Oh, nonsense!” exclaimed Captain Macpherson. “That 
isn’t likely.” But he looked startled by Trant’s suggestion, 


258 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


and annoyed at being convicted of an imprudence, “ You 
are right,” he added with native honesty, “ I ought to have 
held my tongue. By Jove! there are the troopers now.” 

Four men in blue uniform rode up towards the Humpey, 
and gave a military salute. Captain Macpherson and Lord 
Horace hurried out to meet them at the back entrance to the 
Humpey. 

“ Oh, listen I ” ci*ied Elsie ; “ and look ! ” 

There was a sudden blaze of camp fires illuminating 
strange fantastic forms, on the crest of the ridge opposite 
the Humpey. A barbaric rhythmic chant broke on the still 
air. It was the night of the corroboree. 

Lady Waveryng started up. She did not want to lose 
any of the sight. Frank Hallett told her that he had made 
all the arrangements. They were to take up their position 
at a certain distance — not too near, and he would tell them 
when they must depart. They must not be shocked. He 
warned them that the dance might offend the squeamish. 

“ I don’t suppose it can be worse than the Assassouis at 
Algiers,” said Lady Waveryng; “I went to see that.” 

The ladies went off, and came back presently wrapped in 
dark ulsters. As they were leaving the house. Captain Mac- 
pherson joined them, and went up to Lord and Lady Wa- 
veryng, who were together. 

“I’ve been talking to the sergeant,” he said, “and they 
want to push on to-night. They want a bit of a rest now, as 
they were riding last night. If you’ll have the diamonds 
ready and give them to me after the corroboree, say, they’ll 
go off quietly and be at Goondi before morning.” 

Lady Waveryng went back to give some orders to the 
inestimable Briggs, and Trant and Blake waited for her 
while the others strolled slowly in the direction of the camp 
fires, which had only been a signal blaze, and were now 
dwindled to a circle of red spots against the background of 
gum trees. Frank Hallett had chosen a place of view, and 
led them to a fallen log, near which an assemblage of gins 
had congregated, at some little distance from the scene of 
the revel. This was a clear space for the fringe of scrub. 


* 1 ' 




THE corroboref: 


259 



■■( 

V 


i' 


4 


I 


marked out by the circle of ember-lights with a huge bonfire 
laid ready for lighting, in the centre, and behind it a gigan- 
tic and fantastically designed semblance of a human figure, 
of which the outlines could now be but dimly discerned. 
From the dense scrub at the back, shadowy barbaric forms 
now and then emerged, and strange wild sounds and the 
clash of weapons proceeded. These were the warriors pre- 
- paring themselves for the dance. The gins were waiting 
for the signal, and crowded round the strangers, grotesque 
uncouth shapes, with naked bosoms and bare arms, and 
gleaming eyes, jabbering and gesticulating, and clamouring 
for tobacco and food. It amused Lady Waveryng to dis- 
tribute figs of tobacco, cut into small pieces, which Blake 
handed her. Blake was in wild spirits. The excitement of 
the corroboree seemed to have infected him. He laughed, 
he chatted with the gins, he flung bits of tobacco for them 
to scramble after. His eyes shone, a mad gaiety possessed 
him. Trant, on the other hand, looked heavy and serious, 
as though his mind were preoccupied. Elsie observed that 
Sam Shehan and the two half-castes were also present, loung- 
ing in the back ground, the half-castes conspicuous in their 
white shirts and red handkerchief-belts and neckties, grin- 
ning and cutting capers in impish glee, but taking no part 
in the corroboree itself. Sam Shehan leaned against a tree, 
dour and unprepossessing, so much so that Elsie said to 
Trant, 

“I can’t imagine why you employ that man ; he has 
such a horrid face, and you know people used to say he was 
a cattle-stealer.” 

Trant laughed. “ He is a reformed character now, Miss 
Valliant, and he is devoted to me and Blake. You see we 
gave him his chance. A fellow can’t help being born with 
a sour expression, can he ? His appearance is against him. 
There isn’t a better stockman than Sam Shehan on the 
Luya.” 

“The half-castes look as if they ought to belong to a 
pantomime,” said Lady Waveryng. “I never saw such 
droll creatures. I’d like to take Pompo back with me. 


280 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Will you let me have him, Mr. Trant ? He shall be well 
treated, I promise you.” 

“ Pompo would pine and die if he were parted from me,” 
said Trant. “Do you know, Lady Waveryng, that I’ve got 
a sort of mesmeric power over that blaok boy ? I believe if 
I told him to cut off his hand he’d do it.” 

“ Is he as devoted to Mr^ Blake ? ” asked Ina. 

“ No,” said Blake ; “ it’s fear keeps him in subjection, as 
far as I am concerned — fear and devotion to Trant. I haven’t 
got Trant’s knack with the blacks.” 

The gins pressed closer. The camp odour became ob- 
jectionable, even in the fresh night air, and Lady W^averyng 
shuddered. Lord Horace came excitedly towards them. He 
liad been in the scrub dressing-room of the warriors. He 
confessed to having plied them with rum. “ Now look out, 
Em. They are going to begin.” 

There was a signal shout — a sort of Banshee cry, ending 
in a warwhoop. The gins scuttled off to gather up their 
boomerangs, and squatted in a semicircle in two rows along 
the line of the fires. Then sounded the music— a queer sav- 
age chant in long monotonous cadences, with something at 
once eerie and exciting in its strains. The gins in the front 
row sang, those behind swung their boomerangs together, 
keeping clanking time to the music. From the blackness 
of the scrub a cohort of grotesque forms came stealing. 
Suddenly the huge bonfire, which had been made of quickly 
inflammable material, blazed forth, and the circle of the 
corroboree was a glow of red light. The gigantic figure in 
the centre looked like some monstrous idol. It had a rough 
hewn painted head, gleaming white and dead black, cut out 
of new peeled bark and with withes of grey-green moss 
floating down its shoulders. “Barolin, Barolin,” shouted 
the half-castes. It was a suggestion of the Waterfall rock, 
the legend of the great chief. The figure was built up in 
bark. Its solemn arms were extended as if for prey. Bril- 
liant patterned handkerchiefs in crimson and yellow were 
drawn about its neck, and a red blanket concealed the lower 
part of the form. The red flames of the bonfire leaped, eX' 


THE corroboree: 


2G1 


tinguishing the moon’s rays, and throvving darting shadows 
among the tall gum trees, black-stemmed and hoary with 
moss. The gins leaned forward, their bare black bosoms 
palpitating, their arms swinging, their boomerangs and nul- 
las clashing. White and red tipped spears quivered in the 
earth, making a sort of palisade against the scrub. 

Then dancing began. Troop after troop of demoniac 
beings pressed from the scrub and ranged themselves round 
the centre idol. They w^ere naked save for a belt about the 
loins. All were painted in white and red and yellow ; some 
to represent skeletons, others had crawling snakes meander- 
ing upon their limbs, others fishes, others in a nightmare 
pattern meaning nothing ; and on their heads were cocka- 
too feathers, white and pale yellow, and plumes from the 
parrot’s breast. They danced round the idol, making all 
kinds of graceful silent gestures in time to the music, 
which changed as the figures of the dances varied. 

Elsie sat as if in a dream. She had been seated between 
Frank Hallett and Blake. Her dress touched Blake. She 
was conscious almost of something electrical, highly 
charged in him — a suppressed agitation, though he sat per- 
fectly still. An odd fancy struck her that he would not 
move lest he should lose the contact of her dress. Was it a 
dream — the hellish merriment, the savage gestures, the 
fiendish shouts and yells, in which there seemed a note of _ 
such unutterable melancholy ? And the brassy glow rising 
and falling, the solemn idol with its staring painted eyes 
and outstretched arms, the circle of gins, women like herself 
—torn perhaps by love and longing, as she was torn now. 

. . . And the wide silent Bush, and all the vast barbaric 
world. And here this little group of civilized beings, 
the old world and the new meeting. Lord and Lady Wa- 
veryng. Lord Horace, Ina, Frank, Blake, Trant. She heard 
Trant speak at the moment. He was bidding good-bye to 
,Lady Horace and Mrs. Jem Hallett, saying that he meant 
to take advantage of the moonlight and go back to the 
Gorge to meet a butcher he was expecting the first thing in 
the morning. 


2G2 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“And fancy keeping a butcher waiting, Mr. Hallett, and 
for us poor beggars who don’t sell a hundred head in the 
year! I couldn’t trust Sam Shehan to soothe his wounded 
feelings.” 

“A butcher, Lady Waveryng, is the aristocrat of the 
bush,” explained Jem Hallett. “We all bow down to him. 
Good luck to you, Trant! But what do you want with your 
paltry free-selection sales, and your partner Colonial Secre- 
tary of Leichardt’s Land ? It’s incongruous.” 

Elsie laughed. Wasn’t everything incongruous ? She 
was thinking so while Trant pressed her hand and tried to 
put some meaning into his good-bye. . . . The interlude 
was over. She went back upon her own foolish fancies. 
Yes, there they were, sitting side by side on that dead gum 
tree, all different types, all collected from different ends of 
the earth, and yet all so curiously linked together. Was 
she not beside the man who was to be her husband ? And 
on her other side, touching her very skirt, was the man she 
loved. Oh, yes, she loved him, she loved him — If he would 
but take her in his arms now — before them all — as he had 
taken her that night, and press upon her lips kisses as hot 
and passionate, would she resent the kisses ? Would they 
not seem very life of her life ? . . . Now there came a move, 
lua called softly to Frank. She wanted to ask him a ques- 
tion, and he got up and went round to her, and then invol- 
untarily as it were, and as though each had been tortured 
and oppressed by that other presence, Blake and Elsie 
turned to each other. 

What was it that made his eyes so strange to-night ? 
What spirit of recklessness and passion and wild yet re- 
strained impulse leaped out of them, and kindled in her a 
well-nigh overmastering emotion ? He seemed to draw a 
little closer to her, and then to check himself. The shouts 
grew louder and wilder. The gleaming forms went faster. 
The red lights became lurid. The acrid barbainc odour in- 
tensified. Elsie felt giddy and faint. She half rose in an 
unsteady swaying movement. Blake’s arm touched her. 
They were at the very end of the log. He had risen and 


I LOVE YOU, ELSIE: 


263 


had noiselessly drawn her away, and before she knew what 
had happened they were apart from the rest in the night 
alone. He had supported her to a little clump of wattle 
growing close and making a kind of bower, which sheltered 
them from obseryation. Neither said a word. The hood 
of her ulster had fallen back, and her head was upraised and 
her eyes were meeting his, the gaze of both intense, beseech- 
ing, and terribly sad. Still neither said a word. But he 
drew her quite close to him as they leaned against the 
wattle tree, and bent his head to hers and their lips were 
joined. 


CHAPTEE XXVIII. 

I “l LOVE YOU, ELSIE.” 

j He kept her fast. It seemed an eternity in a moment, 

i No explanations were given ; none were needed. She knew 
' that he loved her. He was recalled to himself by a sort of 
shuddering sob in her. 

“ Elsie, my darling,” he said very quietly and gravely, 
and yet always with that thrill of repressed excitement, 
“ you are not to be angry with me for what I have done. 

, If we had sat together there one moment longer, I must have 

! done this before them all ; and that would have been worse 

I for you, my poor child, for though I love you, Elsie, I can- 
not marry you, my dear. You must marry Frank Hallett, 
1^' and he will make jmu happier than I ever could.” 

||| “I must marry Frank Hallett!” she repeated in a dull, 

» nervous way. The pride and the anger had all gone out of 
her. It did not occur to her to upbraid him. It seemed to 
i* her that they were both bound in a fate for which neither 
‘f. was responsible. 

; “ Elsie,” he said, “ I’m in a mad mood to-night. That 

dancing has set every nerve going. I can’t restrain myself. 

I ; Oh, darling, it’s worth a great deal to have such a moment 
as this. I shall try to keep away from you after to-night. 


26 i 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


You’ll not see me again now. I shall not be here to-morrow. 
Perhaps you will never see me again. I shall make arrange- 
ments for leaving this country as soon as may be. I take 
my fling to night.” 

“ What are you going to do ? ” she said, still in that dull 
voice. “ I don’t understand. Make me understand.” 

“Make you understand!” he repeated, and laughed. 
“Yes, I’ll make you understand. You know I promised 
you, the day before you are married. I shall not leave the 
country till then. Then I shall have the satisfaction of 
knowing, at least, that you will thank Heaven I had honour 
enough not to make you my wife.” 

Again they were silent for a few moments, and the hell- 
ish uproar went on, and seemed to them far away. And 
now somebody else was speaking on the other side of the 
wattle-clump. It was a voice Elsie recognized as that of 
Sam Shehan, the stockman. She knew his surly tones. She 
had been listening to him just before she had spoken 
against him to Trant. She only caught the concluding 
words, “All right. I’d better slope now. We shall be there 
with the horses.” 

“ They’re safe planted ? ” It was a voice she knew" too — 
and yet she could not be sure — it was low, and the w^hisper 
was so grufP. 

“ Down by Holy Joe’s waterhole, the old place. What 
about the Captain. It can’t be that he funks this job ? ” 

“Funks! No. It’s damned sentiment. ” 

They passed on. Elsie had draw"n herself from Blake's 
arms. She had been recalled to the world. And yet her 
brain was bewildered. Was it Trant who had spoken ? 
What had he meant ? The phrase had struck her, “ damned 
sentiment.” Perhaps that was the connection of ideas 
w"hich made her think of Trant. He had applied it to 
Blake. 

She looked at Blake, and she saw that he, too, had pulled 
himself together and was standing watchful and alert, and 
with a set determined look upon his face. “ What does it 
mean?” she asked. “That was your stockman. He is 


I LOVE YOU, ELSIE: 


265 


going to do something wrong— what is it ?— is it cattle-steal- 
ing ? And it sounded like Mr. Trant’s voice. It couldn’t 
have been Mr. Trant. It can’t be anything you know of. 
Tell me.” She caught his arm. And yet the idea was 
absurd. His laugh dispelled her vague fancy. 

“ Cattle stealing ! Yes, most likely. If Sam Shehan is 
up to that devilry it must be stopped. Trant, why what are 
you thinking of ? He w^ent away half an hour ago, and 
now I think of it that couldn’t have been Sam Shehan, for 
he had to have the horses ready, and they were all going 
together. No, Elsie, my dear, whatever Trant’s sins may 
be, he is not accessory to cattle-stealing.” 

“ Oh, I did not mean ” she cried. And of course it 

hadn’t been Sam Shehan, she said to herself. It was one of 
the loafers about the Dell. All Colonial voices had the 
same drawl. Lord Horace would encourage what are called 
in Australia “ sun-downers ” by his free handed hospitality, 
and it was such a bad plan. And everybody knew that the 
Upper Luya was infested with small settlers who “ nugget- 
ted ” the calves of the large owners, and when occasion 
offered, stole their cattle. Had not Frank told her that the 
Hallett’s were the principal sufferers ? He had prosed on 
this subject only a few nights back, conscientiously endeav- 
ouring to convey to her his sources of income, and wherein 
the income was precarious. And how bored she had been I 
As if she cared whether the Hallett Brothers branded so 
many thousands and sold so many thousands more or less 
in the year. 

With Blake’s next words she threw away the whole mat- 
ter, and he seemed to have thrown it away too. 

“ Elsie, my love,” he said, “ I want to tell you something 
to-night, this last night which will never come again, no, 
nor any other night like it. I want to tell you that you are 
the only woman in the world whom I have loved, and 
whom I have wished to marry, whom I would have mar- 
ried if things had been different. I have fought against 
you, but you have conquered, and I tell you so this night. 
But if you were to say to me, now this moment, ‘ Morres 


266 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Blake, I will go with you wherever you please, and I will 
be your wife, not counting cost,’ I would put you back — 
gently, gently, my darling— with anguish at my heart, and 
I would refuse your proffered love, and I would bid you , 
give yourself to the man whose wife you have promised to 
be, and who is worthy of you.” 

She said not a word, but he felt her frame shaking with 
a suppressed sob, as he held her two hands which he had 
taken in his. 

He went on. “The feeling you have for me is only a 
sort of glamour, and will pass. I was wrong ever to tell 
you that you would not be hapxDy leading the safe decorous 
existence which Frank Hallett offers you. You v^ill he 
happy, you must be happy. You will have children round 
you on whom no baleful heritage will be entailed. You 
will forget me— I shall seem to you, looking back, only like 
a dream of the night— for I shall not trouble your life after 
you are married. I shall only wait for that, and then I 
shall go away.” 

“ Where ? ” she murmured. 

“ God knows. Back to Ireland, I think. And then 

Well, never mind. I have promised to tell you before you 
are married what my life has been and is. And now, my 
love, good-bye, and God bless you for your sweetness to me 
this night. I won’t kiss you again. I am not worthy to 
kiss you. That was a wild im]3ulse. Now, I cannot. I am 

not fit to touch you. And yet ” He raised her hands 

one after the other to his lips. 

Some one called “ Elsie, Elsie, where are you ? ” 

“ Good-night,” he said. “ Good-bye. Before you are 
awake to-morrow morning I shall be gone. I too have 
business to see to.” 

They came out from the wattle grove. The party from 
the Humpey had left the log. Lady Waveryng and the 
Jem Halletts were already half way down the ridge, but 
Lady Waveryng’s voice floated back during a momentary 
lull of the Blacks’ shouts. She was saying with her Eng- 
lish laugh — 


I LOVE YOU, ELSIE:' 267 

“ It really was too suggestive, you know. The Assas- 
souis are not in it.” 

Frank Hallett approached her. He knew in his heart, 
knew by the look on Elsie’s face, that he was in the pitiful 
position of the supplanted lover. But he bore himself with 
a certain stolid dignity. 

“ I am very sorry to have left you,” he said. “ Ina 
wanted to speak to me. I was afraid you would find that 
dancing and everything rather too much for you. I am so 
glad Blake took you away. ” 

“Well, I think after a certain stage a corroboree is not 
quite a scene for ladies,” said Blake with commendable com- 
posure, “ and so Lady Waveryng seems to fancy. That 
screeching has tried even my nerves,” he added. “ I have 
got the only ailment I ever suffer from — torturing neural- 
gia — and was thankful to escape for a few minutes with 
Miss Valliant from that Walpurgis Saturnalia. If you’ll 
excuse me I think I shall go and turn in at once. I’ve got 
to join Trant to-morrow morning at the Gorge as early as 
may he. It isn’t altogether the case of a butcher,” he added, 
addressing Frank with an air of candour. “ The man who 
is coming from over the border is something else besides 
being a butcher, and as a matter of fact, we are in treaty 
Avith him for the sale of the Gorge as a breeding paddock. 
Trant doesn’t want it to get about yet, but of course, Hal- 
lett, I am safe with you ; and, besides, it may come to 
i nothing.” 

! He turned off to one of the supernumerary huts which 
i served as a bachelors’ quarters, where he and Trant were 
I lodged, and Elsie and Frank were alone. 

) “ Elsie,” Frank said quietly, but with a break in his voice 

that belied his composure, “ you love that man still ? ” 

I “ Oh, Frank,” she cried, “ be kind to me. Don’t ask me 
] anything to-night.” 

“Kind to you!” Frank repeated. “Have I ever been 
anything but kind to you ? If it’s to end, Elsie, let it end 
now.” 

“ Do you w^ant it to end ? ” she asked. 

/ 18 


268 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. * 


“Tell me that he wishes to marry you — and that you 
wish to marry him, and you are free from this moment.” 

“ I can’t tell you that. He doesn’t want to marry me.” 
“And yet he hangs on about you— he looks at you as 
I saw him look to-night, he plays with you, he makes you 
untrue to yourself — and to me ! ” 

“Don’t say that— don’t, don’t. I don’t understand him. 
I shall never understand him. There is some mystery — I 
don’t know what. Perhaps he doesn’t really love me — no, 
I am sure he cannot really love me ” — poor Elsie cried out 
of her tortured soul. “Perhaps he is married already — 
there has been such a thing even out of books. One thing 
is certain, he does not want to marry me, and he is going 
away, Frank; he will trouble us no more.” 

“ Trouble us ! Then you wish our engagement to go 
on?” 

“ It must be as you like. I’m not worth loving. And 
yet, oh Frank, if you leave me I shall be desolate indeed. ” 
“I shall never leave you unless you send me away. 
You know what I said to you, Elsie, when you agreed to 
become my wife. I said that it might be an engagement 
before the world till such time as you could make up your 
mind whether you loved me well enough to marry me, and 
I said that if you decided that could not be, I would never 
blame you. I meant that then — every word, and I mean 
it now, and I had no right to say what I did to you a mo- 
ment ago about ending it at once. But a man may be tried 
beyond his true self, and that’s how it was to-night. I’m 
not a fellow who has nerves in a general way, but some- 
how my nerves seem on edge to-night. I shall not ask 
you another syllable about Blake. I will wait patiently.” 

“ Oh, Frank, you are very generous ! ” 

“ Am I ? You said that to me, I remember, that night — 
after the Government House ball. I thought then only of 
protecting you against the world, Elsie, and against what 
people might saj^, and the need passed. And now it seems 
to me there’s even a greater need ; but it’s the need to pro- 
tect you not against others so much as against yourself.” 


I LOVE YOU, ELSIE: 


269 


They had reached the Humpey. It was only ten o’clock. 
They had scarcely been an hour at the corrohoree and so 
much had happened. The four troopers were drawn up in 
the back verandah, apparently waiting. They touched their 
caps to Elsie, and Hallett asked them when they were to 
start. 

‘‘Twelve o’clock sharp, sir. We turn in for an hour’s 
sleep first. We shall be as fresh as larks, and at Goondi by 
breakfast time, and we’re off again to-morrow, a Moonlight 
trail, I believe,” the sergeant added mysteriously. “Gov- 
ernment orders. That’s why we are doing this job to- 
night.” 

Lord Waveryng came out with Captain Macpherson 
and Lord Horace. He had some sealed packets in his 
hand. Lord Horace beckoned to the sergeant, and they all 
went into the verandah room, known as ” The Boss’s office,” 
where Lord Horace transacted the business of his property. 
“ Where’s Mr. Blake ? ” asked Captain Macpherson, putting 
out his head. 

“ He has a bad headache and has gone to bed,” replied 
Hallett, “ and he is starting the first thing in the morning 
back to Barolin Gorge. Do you want to speak to him ?” 

“ Oh, no, it doesn’t matter. I won’t disturb him now. 
He wishes me to go over and see him to-morrow at the 
Gorge. I had intended going to Goondi at once, but I 
believe there is some official matter about which Mr. Blake 
wishes to consult me.” 

Captain Macpherson’s wiry little frame dilated with 
importance. He liked being consulted on an official mat- 
ter by the Colonial Secretary. He went back to the office. 
Elsie walked away to the sitting-room where the other 
ladies were yawning and waiting till the troopers had been 
dismissed. After a little while the sergeant came out of 
the office, his big square frame looking the thicker be- 
cause of the sealed packets which were securely fastened 
into his breast pockets, and his inner man made glad phys- 
ically and spiritually by Lord Horace’s valedictory “ nob- 
bier” and Lord Waveryng’s bank note. The sergeant 


270 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


assured Lady Waveryug that she need have no fear as to 
the safety of the historic jewels, and seemed even prepared 
to emulate the Sancy feat in defence of her property. The 
troopers were also served with a “nobbier” apiece, and 
they were all sent to lie down on their blankets in the 
kitchen till it was time to start. Captain Macpherson taking 
the responsibility of awakening them. 

Elsie went to bed, but not to sleep. Her room in the 
new house looked out towards the hut where Blake was 
lodged. She wondered if he were sleeping. She wondered 
if he was as miserable as she — no, that was impossible, or 
he could never have thrust her away so determinedly. She 
wondered what was the bar between them— she wondered, 
and her wonderings ended in sobs. 

She heard the troopers ride away with the black boy who 
was to accompany them to Goondi and bring back the 
bankers’ receipt for the diamonds in order to assure Lord 
Waveryng of their safe delivery. She heard the tramp of 
the horses’ feet as the men rode towards the Crossing, lost 
at last in the more distinct sound of the Blacks’ war cries. 

Blake did not appear at breakfast, and nobody knew 
what time he had started for the Gorge. His horse had 
slept in the yard saddled by his half-castes, and it was sup- 
posed he had got it himself, and had ridden off before any- 
one was stirring. The corroboree had lasted late, and all 
the Dell hands, including the workmen employed on the 
new house, had been assisting thereat. The staid Mr. Pren- 
tiss enlivened his lord’s dressing hour by accounts of the 
doings which would have proved that, as Lady Waveryng 
had said, the African Assassouis were not in it. Mr. Pren- 
tiss had an appreciation of local colour which delighted 
Lord Horace. Lady Waveryng declared that he also was 
contemplating a book of travels. 

Lady Waveryng spent the morning in elaborating and 
copying her notes. The Jem Halletts started for Tunimba 
immediately after an early luncheon, arrangements having 
been made whereby the Waveryng party were to transport 
themselves to Tunimba in the following week. On this oc- 


I LOVE YOU ELSIE: 


271 


casion the picnic to Barolin Waterfall was to take place. 
Captain Macpherson went with them as far as the turning 
to the Gorge. There was an air of depression about the 
Dell. The Blacks even looked played out after the cor- 
roboree, but showed signs of animation in the shifting of 
their camp and the sharpening of their weapons, preparatory 
to the forthcoming battle. But, alas ! the Iliad of Durundur 
and Bai'olin was not to become history. Lord Horace and 
Lord Waveryng rushed in laughing, to announce that the 
two Tommies — Paris and Menelaus— had amicably settled 
their differences. Menelaus had retired in all the dignity 
of his chiefdom, consoled for the loss of Helen by a half- 
bottle of rum, half a ration of flour, tea and sugar, sundry 
odd fig-ends of tobacco — collected from Lady Waveryng’s 
bounty — and finally a £1 cheque. Lord Horace having ac- 
complished his corroboree, had stepped in to prevent the 
war. Bessy of the Bean-Tree was to be married that after- 
noon to Luya Tommy, according to all the rites of her 
tribe, and Luya Tommy had already given orders at the hut 
that Bessy’s dinner was to be put on the same plate with 
his. 

Lady Waveryng wanted to see the wedding. Here was 
“ copy ” not to be lost. She would ransack the store to find 
a present for the bride, and her wardrobe for a wedding 
dress. Miss Briggs remonstrated on the score of unsuit- 
ability, but to no avail. Bean-Tree Bessy was actually mar- 
ried in a crimson moire skirt, trimmed with black Chantilly 
lace, which had peeped modestly from under Lady Waver- 
yng’s dress in the Royal enclosure at Ascot, and had thus 
been, so to speak, in very touch with Imperialism personi- 
fied, to say nothing of the fashion and aristocracy of Eng- 
land— so do extremes of the Empire meet. But Lady 
Waveryng was not present at the marriage ceremony. For 
just as they were going up to the camp, there was a 
confusion and a commotion outside, and Prentiss rushed 
round to the front verandah, having been the first to 
hear of the disaster, his face white as death, his knees 
trembling. 


272 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ The diamonds, oh, my lady, the diamonds ! They’ve 
been stolen.” 

“Stolen ! ” cried Elsie Valliant, starting forward, as pale 
as Prentiss. 

“ Who has stolen them ? ” thundered Lord Waveryng. 

“ Moonlight,” dramatically exclaimed Prentiss. 


CHAPTEE XXIX. 

“lady waveryng’s diamonds.” 

It was too true. The celebrated Waveryng diamonds 
were now in the possession of a gang of masked bandits, 
presumably Moonlight and his followers. The troopers 
and Benbolt, the black boy, had come back to tell the tale. 
Never was man of mettle and responsibility more crestfallen 
than the sergeant. He handed Lord Waveryng his bank 
note back again. “ I don’t deserve it, my lord, and you’ll 
believe me w^hen I say that I’d rather have had my leg cut 
off — I’d rather have lost iny life than that this should have 
happened. But I’ll get them — we’ll have them back, my 
lady. Two of us went on to Goondi. The Government 
know of it •by this time. All the telegraph wires in the 
colony are working — he can’t escape. I’m off to the Gorge 
as soon as Lord Horace will put me on a fresh horse, to tell 
Captain Macpherson and the Colonial Secretary. The 
country shall be raised ; the Luya shall be scoured. No, 
they sha’n’t escape us this time, unless Moonlight is the 
devil incarnate, and that he must be to have known what 
we were carrying last night and to have taken us the way 
he did.” 

The sergeant’s story was after all a simple one, though 
he was incoherent in its telling. He took some pride in re- 
counting the diabolic ingenuity of the trap that had made 
it impossible for him to offer any resistance. Moonlight 
had surely known that not even the muzzle of a revolver 


^^LADY WAVERYNG'8 DIAMONDS. 


273 


would have intimidated him. The bushrangers had chosen 
their spot ; it was in Monie’s Gorge, half way to the Bean- 
tree — a mountain with a slice out of it— boulders of rock 
lining the track and only room on the track for horsemen in 
single file ; and who would think of going round the rocks, 
which looked as if they were part of the precipice behind, 
and who could have suspected a scooped out hiding-place, 
as if it had been made on purpose for midnight robbers and 
black horses that had the devil in them as much as their 
masters ? He was jogging along — his hand on his revolver 
— every sense alert, from description, when, lo ! a lasso had 
been thrown — it might have been a looped stockwhip that 
had jerked him from his saddle, causing him to scrape the 
rock — the sergeant showed the traces of the abrasion, but 
apparently no other hurt. Simultaneously it appeared other 
lassoes had been thrown, and with unerring aim over two 
of his mates. The black boy’s head was covered later. For 
himself, he remembered only the darting onward of his 
horse, leaving himself grounded, the apparition of a masked 
man on a coal black steed — Abates of course— a pair of 
gleaming eyes upon him, a revolver at his forehead, and a 
sudden swift throwing over his face of a thick cloth, satu- 
rated with chloroform. He had felt his hands being 
pinioned, and then he remembered no more. When he had 
come to his senses he had found himself in the hollow of a 
boulder, with a narrow belt of young white gums between 
him and the precipice, the diamonds gone, the horses gone, 
and his companions, including the black boy Benbolt, like 
himself, securely tied, each to a gum tree. The robbery had 
happened not ten miles from Luya Dell. Every man of 
them had been chloroformed. The whole thing had been 
done almost without a word. Four assailants were declared 
to ; there might have been more ; one of the troopers was 
certain there were five. What had become of the horses no 
one knew. The men had lain gagged and bound for hours. 
It was a lonely road, and they might have been there now 
had not Benbolt managed, with the aid of his toes, to get 
himself free. He had untied the others, and they had 


274 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


walked to the Bean-tree, as being the nearest point of hu- 
manity. They had divided, as the sergeant had related — two 
going to Goondi to report, the rest, having got the Bean- 
tree settlers to provide them with horses, coming back to 
the Bell. 

The matter was comical enough for laughter. Elsie did 
laugh hysterically, and was led away by Frank. Lord and 
Lady Waveryng were far too upset and indignant to see 
the ludicrous aspect of the aflPair. Lord Horace was wildly 
excited, and all for raising the district on the instant and 
chasing Moonlight to his lair. 

There seemed nothing for him to do, however, at present, 
but to horse the troopers as speedily as possible, and go with 
them to Barolin Gorge, to consult with Blake and Captain 
Macpherson. He came home late in the evening. It was 
Elsie who met him. She had wandered down to the Cross- 
ing in the moonlight, unable to control her impatience and 
anxiety. She and Ina were alone with the Waveryngs, for 
Frank, escorting Mrs. Allanby, had gone back to Tunimba. 
All day Elsie had gone about a pale ghost with frightened 
eyes, saying little, but starting at every sound and every 
footstep. She could not have defined in set form the fear 
that held her. All day the words she had heard at the cor- 
roboree the night before kept repeating themselves in her 
dazed brain. Had it been Sam Shehan who spoke ? Was 
it Trant who had used the phrase “ damned sentimental- 
ity ? ” And if it had not been Trant, what extraordinary 
coincidence that another should have employed it ! And in 
any case, why should Trant have in the first instance said 
the words in relation to Blake, for that of course had been 
self-evident. Like balm came the thought of Trant’s curious 
admiration for herself, and rivalry with Blake, and she re- 
membered what Blake had said about leaving Australia and 
selling the Gorge. Was it not possible that he and Trant 
had had a difference on this point, that jealousy had inflamed 
Trant, and prompted the accusation of weak sentiment ? It 
was a relief to her to dwell on this idea. She persuaded 
herself that it was fact. 


^^LADY WAVERYNG'S DIAArONDS: 


275 


Slie watched for Lord Horace from the cairn on which 
she had stood watching for Frank Hallett. Oh, what an 
immeasurable distance she seemed from that careless girl- 
hood ! All along the creek towards Barolin there was a 
level tract with the mountains rising on either side, and 
closing in beyond, and she could see a long way off. She 
could see that there were two horsemen coming. One was 
Lord Horace. The other she knew was Blake. The girl’s 
heart bounded with delight and dread. She should see 
him; she should speak to him; he had come on purpose; 
he had guessed of what she might he thinking. Oh ! how 
could she ever dare to confess it — that he — her hero could 
even by the remote association of partnership with Trant 
he implicated in so sordid and mean a thing as a diamond 
robbery 1 

But no. At the bend of the creek, the two men pulled 
up. They said a few words, of which the murmur was only 
faintly wafted to Elsie; and then they parted. Lord Horace 
riding towards the Crossing, Blake turning on in the direc- 
tion of the Bean-tree. And then a curious thing happened. 
He stopped dead short and whirled round, and in the bright 
moonlight Elsie, with quickened sight, could see his face 
turned towards where she stood on the pinnacle of the 
cairn. He had seen her in the moonlight, id her white 
dress, outlined against the dark gum-trees ; he wished 
her to know that he had seen her, and that he was 
true to his resolution and would not come to disturb her 
again. 

Elsie watched him ride away till the two forms of horse 
and rider were lost in the shadows and the night. She crept 
down from the cairn and stood on the top of the hank as 
Lord Horace shambled up. 

“Elsie !” he cried. “What the dickens are you doin’ 
here ? ” 

“I wanted to know— have they done anything? Was 
that Mr. Blake with you ? ” 

“Yes, he wouldn’t come in — said he must get down to 
Leichardt’s Town to work the ofTicial wires, I suppose. He 


276 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


wants to catch, the coach from Goondi to-morrow morning. 
He’s a queer fellow, Blake.” 

“ Queer! Why do you say so ? ” 

“ Oh ! I don’t know. There were we all in the devil of 
an excitement. Macpherson raging, and wanting to organ- 
ize a scouring party on the instant — all of us cursing and 
spluttering and vowing vengeance on Moonlight, and Blake 
as cool as a cucumber, all the time looking bored with the 
whole concern, and with a quiet dreamy way, as though his 
mind was in the clouds, or too full of the sale of the Gorge 
to bother about Moonlight.” 

“ The sale of the Gorge 1 It was true, then ? ” 

“True! Good Lord, why should it not have been true? 
The man was there — a meat-preserver in a small way — sells 
to the big establishments, and wants to go in for something 
in the breeding line. He and Trant were inspecting when 
we arrived. ” 

“ Mr. Trant was there ? ” 

“Why, my dear Elsie, I think you must be loose of a 
shingle, as our Australians put it. Didn’t you hear Trant 
say good-bye, and tell us he was going straight over to meet 
a butcher ? Well, he did go straight over, and he did meet 
the butcher ; anyhow the butcher and Trant were there, 
and had been right enough when Macpherson got over, 
three hours before me. Are you thinking that Trant stole 
the diamonds ? It would be a convenient theory. And do 
you know that my first suspicions fell on Sam Shehan ? 
But it won’t hold water.” 

“ Sam Shehan ! ” Elsie said, still in a dazed way. She 
seemed able only to repeat vaguely Lord Horace’s words. 

“ Sam is a very bad hat, or was ; as we all know. It was 
a fiuke, Hallett tells me, that he didn’t get seven years 
once for cattle stealing from Tunimba. It struck me as not 
at all unlikely that Sam Shehan may have given informa- 
tion to Moonlight. The informer must have been some one 
on the spot, for it was clear that Moonlight knew exactly 
how the diamonds were done up and carried, and the right 
man to tackle ; he must have known, too, the exact hour at 


^^LADY WAVERYNG'S DTAMONDS: 


27T 


which they started. And what beats me is how it was done 
in the time ; and how, supposing it was Sam Shehan, he 
could have got the news to Moonlight, been at the corroho- 
ree — for I saw him with my own eyes.” 

“ Yes,” said Elsie. 

“ And have started with Trant and the half-castes before 
ten. Trant swears he never left his side, and that they were 
on the run the first thing this morning, getting in some fats 
ready for the butcher. Of course the theory of Trant’s im- 
plication does away with that alibi. But it’s too absurd. 
Neither of the theories will work. Time’s against it for one 
thing, and all the facts. The butcher was there ; the fats 
were there — in the paddock — Sam Shehan and the two half- 
castes were there, and as far as I could see, not another soul 
about the place.” 

“ Did you tell Mr. Trant of your suspicions of Sam She- 
han ? ” Elsie asked. 

No, but I hinted ’em to Blake ; and, by Jove, it was the 
only time he flared up ; said he’d answer for Shehan with 
his life, offered to have him put under arrest if we liked ; 
wanted the mere shadow of a suspicion cleared off' him. 
Well, as I said, facts are facts— and Macpherson was the 
first to declare that we must look elsewhere. The other 
theory is that Moonlight is in with the Blacks, and was at 
the corroboree himself and heard us talking about the dia- 
monds — what fools we were ! — and got all the information 
he wanted. It was extraordinary quick work. Anyhow I 
think the diamonds are pretty safe. They can’t dispose of 
’em, and they wouldn’t be likely to break them up at once. 
And thei^e’ll be such a hue and cry and raising of the coun- 
try that Moonlight’s hiding-place isn’t likely to remain un- 
discovered for loflg. One thing we may be fairly sure of, 
that the lair is somewhere hereabouts ; and Trant declares 
that if it is anywhere in the Luya Jack Nutty and Pompo, 
who know every inch of these parts, are sure to find it. 
That’s something comforting for Em, at any rate.” 

Lady Waveryng, however, was not a woman to fret 
vainly over the inevitable. Lord Waveryng was far more 


278 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER, 


of a “ grizzle,” as she termed it : and he did “ grizzle ” con- 
siderably over the diamonds, and worried the police and the 
Government of Leichardt’s Land not a little in his anxiety 
for their recovery. The Government did their best, and 
Blake was as eager in his etforts to hunt down the robbers 
as Lord Waveryng could have wished, though he was 
heard to say that from such a Radical Government as that 
of Mr. Torbolton he could expect hut little sympathy, and 
not much respect for locked up capital in the shape of dia- 
mond heirlooms. 

Lord Waveryng went down to Leichardt’s Town to 
interview himself the heads of the police department and 
to stir up the Government in his cause. He was the guest 
of Sir Michael Stukeley, who called together a special meet- 
ing of the Executive to confer on the question of capturing 
Moonlight. The aristocratic section of Leichardt’s Town 
society was stirred to its core. The anti-ministerial news- 
papers were fierce in their denunciations of a supine ad- 
ministration which could allow not only meritorious colo- 
nists but illustrious visitors to he the prey of an outlaw, 
who with a band of not more than four men could hold at 
defiance the whole police force of the colony. 

“ When five ruffians can keep at bay battalions of po- 
lice,” wrote the Luya Sentinel,^ “ what confidence can the 
inhabitants of Leichardt’s Land feel in the present guard- 
ians of public order ? ” There were veiled allusions to Fe- 
nian proclivities on the part of the Hon. the Colonial Sec- 
retary, and a hint of possible sympathy with rebels, rob- 
bers, and insurgents against the law generally. “Why 
were not the robbers hunted to their den ? Why was not 
the country scoured forthwith by police, by the military if 
necessary ? Why were not black trackers put on the trail ? 
Was it not fear, abject fear, on the part of the police 
officers, as well as the indifference of a Socialist Govern- 
ment, which stood in the way of such rigorous measures ? 
So far it certainly appeared that as long as the bushrangers 
chose to keep in their hiding-place in the Ranges, there 
was small probability of the district being rid of its scourge. 


^^LADY WAVERYNG'S DIAMONDS: 


2T9 


In no other district would such hiding-place be possible,” 
and here the Luya Sentinel waxed enthusiastic over the 
mountain fastnesses, which w^ere the barren pride of this 
unprofitable corner of Leichardt’s Land. It w'ould appear 
that the Luya had the monopoly of not only all that was 
picturesque in scenery, but all that was romantic in legend 
and superstition. 

Captain Macpherson swore by all his gods that the 
taunts of the Luya Sentinel should be no longer deserved ; 
and during the next three weeks the indignation of the 
local press became ridicule at the aimless wanderings of the 
chief of the police and his troopers among the gorges and 
ravines and scrubs of the Upper Luya, where upon one 
occasion they got hopelessly bushed, returning to Tunimba 
in a sorry condition, having staked a valuable horse in a 
fall over a concealed precipice, and broken the arm of one 
of the troopers. The Blacks’ superstition also stood in the 
way of a thorough scouring of the heads of the river, for 
even the half-civilized trackers objected to venture into 
that mysterious region, haunted by Debil-debil and the 
spirit of the mighty Chief Barolin. Besides, the bunya 
scrub and spinifex thickets were impenetrable alike to man 
and beast, and must be equally so to the bushrangers. Cap- 
tain Macpherson argued. On this Barolin expedition, Cap- 
tain Macpherson made Barolin Gorge the centre of oper- 
ations, and the half-castes and Sara Shehan acted as pio- 
neers. Dominic Trant also was zealous in the service, while 
the stockman’s prodigies of bushmanship and indefatigable 
pushing through country that might have appalled the 
• bravest rider, lulled all Lord Horace’s vague suspicions. 
Not a trace or sign of Moonlight could be discovered ; not 
I,! a clue to prove that he had made for this direction after the 
robbery. The search round Barolin was given up, and 
then a new theory, founded on private information supplied 
to Blake, as Colonial Secretary, by an anonymous corre- 
spondent, w^as started to the effect that Moonlight was in 
league with a Chinese gardener not far from the Bean-tree 
Crossing, and that the pine-apple field was the hiding-place 


280 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


of the diamonds. The gardener was found wrapped in an 
opium sleep and was sufficiently dazed to be impervious to 
interrogatories. There were one or two suspicious circum- 
stances, however, the pine-apples were uprooted, the hut 
searched, the gardener put under arrest, and then it turned 
out that the trail was a false one, and the police were at sea 
once more. 

Blake paid one or two hurried visits to the Luya, on 
business connected with the sale of the selection, he said, 
but he did not go near Elsie ; Trant was away too — he went 
across the Border, presumably on the same business, taking 
Shehan with him. The sale was now given out as a fact, 
and Trant had announced his probable departure for Eu- 
rope. Mipnie Pryde declared that Elsie was responsible 
for the sudden sale of the selection, and the reason thereof 
was that neither of the partners would live there as neigh- 
bours to Mrs. Frank Hallett. But this of course was ab- 
surd, for there seemed no likelihood of Blake giving up his 
political life, and he was more likely to be brought into con- 
tact with Mrs. Frank Hallett in Leichardt’s Town than on 
the Luya. 


CHAPTER XXX. 

“a bush picnic.” 

But in spite of the chase of Moonlight, in spite of the 
great Waveryng diamond robbery, which had furnished 
food for sensational leaders and sensational telegrams, both 
in England and Australia— what a fertile theme for ro- 
mance-mongering penny-a-liners and society journalists ! 
— in spite of the tragic complications of poor Elsie’s love 
affairs and Prank Hallett's heart-sickness, and Ina Gage’s 
sympathetic dread of some terrible coming calamity, life on 
the Luya had to continue its ordinary course. Its ordinary 
course just now meant the carrying-out of Mrs. James Hal- 
lett's scheme of a house-party at Tunimba, modelled on the 


A BUS FI picnic: 


281 


lines of English comfort and the due subservience of Aus- 
tralian roughness to aristocratic sensibilities, but with all 
the dramatic fitness which local colour could impart ; a 
house-party which should be duly chronicled in Lady 
Waveryng’s book of travels, and which should pave the 
way for Mrs. Jem’s reception into aristocratic circles in 
England when that long-talked-of trip Home should take 
l)lace ; and Mrs. Jem intended that it should take place be- 
fore the Waveryng impressions had time to fade. 

Mrs. Jem had for some time been silently making prepa- 
rations. She was quite as good a caterer of amusement as 
Lord Horace, and made less fuss about it. The best rooms 
had been garnished in readiness for the Waveryngs, the 
bachelors’ quarters had been made ready. By a. diplomatic 
arrangement with the dentist, old Mrs. Hallett had been 
persuaded into taking her annual trip to Sydney a little 
earlier than usual, and her cottage was at the disposal of 
Mrs. James’s guests. 

She had invited a select party to meet the Waveryngs, 
including the Garfits and Minnie Pryde, and such of the 
neighbours as were thought either sufficiently refined for 
such exalted company, or sufficiently amusing to afford 
“copy” for Lady Waveryng. Dominic Trant had been 
asked, and had readily accepted the invitation ; and Blake 
had been asked also, but had left it uncertain whether he 
could come. It was possible, he wrote, that his official du- 
ties might prevent him from being at the picnic to which he 
had so looked forward. He begged his kind regards to Miss 
Valliant,and his assurances to Lady Waveryng that zeal on 
behalf of the recovery of her jewels had something to do 
with his uncertainty. 

“Ah, Blake knows that he will have a bad time when 
the House meets in October,” said Jem Hallett. “No doubt. 
Sir James, you and your colleagues mean to make capital 
out of this Moonlight business ? ” 

Sir James Garfit smiled sardonically, and remarked 
drily that they had their work cut out for that summer ses- 
sion. He meant, for his part, to make it last as short a time * 


282 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


as possible, and he shouldn’t be surprised if there was to be 
a general election, and in that case no one knew what would 
happen. 

Thus it was understood that Sir Janies Garfit meant to 
force the hand of the Government. The summer session 
had been a concession to public feeling. Nobody liked a 
summer session, and it meant an involved state of political 
business. 

“ Think, Em,’’ cried Lord Horace, “ the loss of your dia- 
monds may be a turning point in colonial history — a defeat 
of the Ministry and an appeal to the country ; and all be- 
cause your vanity made you insist on dragging about these 
historic heirlooms. ” 

“ It was Waveryng’s vanity, not mine. He didn't like 
the idea of my not appearing properly, and, you see, we 
knew we should be in the wake of the Prince everywhere,” 
said Lady Waveryng, apologetically. 

Nature had assisted Mrs. Jem Hallett in her endeavours. 
Never was there a more glorious September ; never had 
Tunimba looked more beautiful. The pale green pods of 
the eucalyptus flowers were opening to let out their honied 
balls, the white cedars were a mass of lilac blossoms, and 
the chestnut trees by the creek spread their orange clusters. 
The young green of the quantongs showed in the scrub 
fringe, and here and there in the mountain gorges the flame 
tree shone like a burning bush. The race-course in front 
of the house was brilliant green, and covered with butter- 
cups and wild violets, and the cultivation paddocks w^ere 
greener still. The flat-stone peach trees were covered wuth 
bloom, and so were the orange trees, making the air almost 
heavy with their fragrance. And roses rioted on the fences, 
and the wistaria was sweet, and the purple scrub plums 
were beginning to ripen. 

“ What a pity it is that Elsie is not going to he married 
this month ! ” somebody said. “ We might all he smothered 
in real orange blossoms.” 

But Elsie said nothing. She had grown strangely silent 
these days, and from her manner would scarcely have been 


A BUSH picnic: 


283 


recognized as the brilliant Miss Valliant, of Leichardt’s 
Town renown. She rarely alluded to her marriage, nor did 
Frank ; and Lady Garfit pronounced them an extraordinary 
engaged couple, and began to think there might after all be 
a chance for Rose. Of late, however, she had taken a fancy 
to Blake in the light of a possible son-in-law. She lived in 
hope that he might be induced to change his politics, and 
to join Sir James Gar fit’s ministry. She was very much put 
out that he could not be at the picnic. 

For he was not to be there. A telegram had arrived 
with prepaid messenger from the Bean-Tree to say that he 
was unavoidably prevented from joining the party. Elsie 
read the telegram — Mrs. Hallett handed it to her— with 
a curious sinking of her heart. She had been looking for- 
ward with a guilty joy to the prospect of meeting him at 
the picnic, and yet she had told herself all the time that she 
was wicked to wish for him, and that in reality she was 
anxious that he should not come. 

The arrangements had been made with a view to the 
well-being and enjoyment of the elder and timorous as well 
as of the rasher spirits among the young. Lady Garfit did 
not think camping-out was quite appropriate at her age, or 
that of Sir James. Besides, she had not mounted a horse 
for years, and her size was hardly adapted to equestrian 
feats. Lady Waveryng, of course, wished to see and do 
everything that was to be seen and done. Rose Garfit 
thought she would see how they got on — of course camping- 
out would be sweet, but she was not sure that she ought 
to leave her mother. Mrs. James Hallett, with her usual 
sense of the fitness of things, decided that it was her duty to 
look after her elder guests. As for Minnie Pryde, she was 
equal to all dangers and difficulties. So it was settled that 
they were to follow the buggy track as far as that would 
take them towards one of the Selections in the mountains, 
and then a very short ride on a quiet horse, into which Lady 
Garfit was persuaded, would lead them to the Point Row 
Ravine, and there they would picnic, those so disposed re- 
turning in the late afternoon, while the rest would push on 
19 


284 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


past the region of human tracks into the Gorges and camp 
for the night as near as might be to Barolin Fall. 

It was a goodly cavalcade, the two buggies, an escort of 
black boys leading spare horses, and followed by a pack of 
kangaroo hounds. Sam Shehan as pioneer — Sam always 
dour of face, but the typical stockman, in his tight mole- 
skins turned up at the bottom, his flannel shirt, and diago- 
nally folded handkerchief knotted sailor-fashion on his chest, 
his cabbage tree hat on the back of his head, his stockwhip 
over his right shoulder, the thong trailing behind him, his 
waist-strap with its many pouches and implements of the 
bush, including a leather revolver case — for almost all the 
gentlemen carried revolvers — a precaution adopted on the 
Luya since the diamond robbery. There was always a hope 
of an encounter with Moonlight. The half-castes rode with 
Shehan, and kept somewhat apart from the other black boys. 
Elsie regarded the trio with a sort of instinctive shrinking, 
and yet with that vague interest which in her mind associ- 
ated itself with anyone or anything that was connected with 
Blake. Trant was there of course, on a splendid animal, 
mettlesome yet docile, and as Trant said, accustomed to the 
ranges. Lady Waveryng, in her trim hunting get-up and 
mounted on Jem Hallett’s best thorough-bred lady’s hack, 
looked like an importation from the Shires. Every incident 
of the little journey gave fresh material. There was a spin 
after a kangaroo, and then one of the stockmen killed a 
’guana, a black boy skinned it, carrying off the carcase for a 
camp supper, while Lady Waveryng bought the skin on the 
spot, and declared she would have it stuffed to take home I 
with her. Then, as they skirted the scrub, the bell-bird rang j 
its silvery peal, and the whip-bird gave its coachman’s click. 
Never was September day more tender and dreamy and 
sweet, with always that strange exhilaration in the air which I 
sets pulses old and young tingling. 

“ I will be happy ; I will be happy,” Elsie kept repeating 
to herself. She put away dark thoughts of Blake. He was 
going out of her life; he must be thrust out of her life; and; 
she would begin to-day the battle with her ghost. It was 


“.4 BUSH PI chic: 


285 


only a ghost — the ghost of a happiness that might have 
been. And here by her side was a happiness that was. And 
ahead of her, in the shape of Trant, was a means of passing 
excitement. She worked herself into a reckless mood. Why 
should she' not amuse herself with Trant ? He was fairly 
warned. “ Let us shuffle cards, Frank,” she said. “We have 
been too much like Darby and Joan lately, and it isn’t time 
for that yet. Go and flirt with Rose Garflt, and I will flirt 
with Mr. Trant.” 

She laughed with something of her old spirit, and Frank 
was not displeased, but rather welcomed the sally, as a sign 
that Elsie was becoming herself again. He was not jealous 
of Trant. 

So Elsie called Trant to her, on some woman’s pretext, 
and Frank dropped back to Rose Garflt. Trant was in an 
odd mood, too. He did not seem disposed for pleasantry. 
His manner suggested to Elsie the “ villain of the piece,” 
and so she told him, laughing. 

“Well,” he answered, a little grimly, “perhaps. Per- 
haps I may turn into the hero of the piece. We are only 
at the beginning of the play, you know. Miss Valliant.” 

“ Oh, no,” she said, “ we are getting to the end. The play 
is nearly played out, for me at least. I am to be married in 
a month, Mr. Trant ; and we are going to Tasmania for our 
honeymoon.” 

“ Is that settled ? ” he asked. 

“ It was settled yesterday,” she replied. She looked up 
from her horse’s mane, with which her whip had been toy- 
ing. His big black eyes were fixed on her with such a 
fierce, devouring kind of gaze, that the girl was startled and 
shrank. 

“ I wish you wouldn’t look at me like that,” she said. 
“Why do you look at me so wildly ? ” 

“ Because I am wild with love of you,” he said. “ It 
maddens me to think of you the wife of another man. I 
can’t stand it, and I will not stand it.” He did not speak 
for a moment or two, then exclaimed impetuously, “You 
are right, the play is nearly played out, for me as well as for 


286 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


you. In a month’s time, I shall have left Australia. Blake 
and I have agreed to dissolve partnership and to sell Baro- 
lin.” 

“ I am glad of that,” she said. 

He laughed in a strange, wild way. They were at the 
entrance to the cleft through which wound the Point Row 
gulley, the scene of their picnic in the autumn. The bug- 
gies crawled along a rough cedar-cutter’s track for a little 
way, and then at Lady Gartit’s request the ladies got out 
and a general shifting of baggage and dismounting and re- 
mounting took place. Lady Garfit being hoisted on the safest 
of the Tunimba steeds and placed under the care of the 
steadiest of the Tunimba stockmen, who led the lady and 
the horse along the bridle path to the lichen-covered boul- 
ders whence it was necessary to proceed on foot. Lady 
Waveryng uttered cries of delight. The place was in all 
the beauty of spring blossom. The rock-lilies were in 
flower, and stuck out all over the precipice in tufts like 
plumes of cream coloured feathers. Orchids, with white 
and purple tassels hung down from the crevices, the 
shrubs were nearly all in bloom, and so was the wflld 
begonia, and the ferns were in their glory of new pale 
green fronds. 

They picnicked on the higher plateau. It was a very 
sumptuous luncheon, got up in Mrs. Jem Hallett’s best 
fashion. She was determined that the luncheon and the ' 
expedition should be immortalized in Lady Waveryng’s 
book. A clever young “ new-chum ” from one of the Luya 
stations who had joined the party, and who had brought a 
Kodak, took photographs, grouping the stockmen and 
black boys and guests under Lady Waveryng’s direction. 
He insisted on including Elsie in each group; Lady Wa- 
veryng made a greater point of the black boys. She raved 
about the picturesqueness of Pompo and Jack Nutty. Elsie 
submitted willingly to be posed. She did not want to climb 
higher, as Frank Hallett proposed. She had too vivid a 
remembrance of the ramble with Blake. And she thought 
of that saying of hers on which he had sadly commented. 


BUSR PlCNICr 287 

Yes; if she had only known in the autumn what the spring 
would bring forth ! 

It was a very successful day, so everyone declared over 
the quart-pot tea. Mrs. Jem had provided cream and sugar 
for those who had not Mr. Micawber’s sense of the fitting in 
regard to a colonial life. Some of the black boys, with Sam 
Shehan, had been sent forward towards the Barolin Falls 
early in the day to prospect for the adventurous as to the 
state of the track. They brought back accounts so daunt- 
ing, of the quicksands- in the creek, made more dangerous 
by the late rains, of the density of the spinnifex, through 
which it was almost impossible to force a way, of the close 
growth of the prickly bunyas in the scrub, and of the far- 
famed and almost fabulous “ piora ” snake, said to pursue 
its victim, unlike its lethargic brethren, and to haunt these 
fastnesses of the Luya, which so frightened Miss Garfit and 
others of weak soul and body that the camping-out 
party finally dwindled considerably below its first planned 
proportions, and those who turned back to the comforts 
of Tunimba were more than they who faced Barolin- 
wards. 

It was Sam Shehan who told the tale of the spinnifex 
and the piora. The blacks had flatly refused for fear of 
“ Debil-debil ” to go into the bunya scrub. This to them 
was the forbidden region, forbidden of Puyme, the Misty 
One, and Yooltanah, the Great Spirit. Only- Jack Nutty 
and Pompo w’ere ‘of the emancipated from superstition’s 
bondage, and were regarded as pariahs in consequence by 
their more dusky brethren. 

Eose Garfit went back with her mother. So did Lord 
Waveryng, who complained of a twinge of sciatica. His 
spouse was intrepidity itself. “ Take care of them all, 
Frank,” plaintively adjured Mrs. Jem. Jem accompanied 
his wife. 

“ You have been drawing the long bow, Shehan,” said 
Frank to the stockman. “ It’s my belief,” he added to Trant, 
“ that Shehan has a cattle-stealing plant up this way, and 
is afraid of my finding it out. He has been dead against 


288 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


this expedition, and throwing all the difficulties he could in 
the way.” 

If, however, Shehan was dead against the expedition, 
certainly Traut was wild that it should he carried through. 
He had wakened out of his grim and apathetic mood at a 
suggestion on Lord Waveryng’s part that the Falls should 
he abandoned. Ina had timidly seconded the suggestion. 
She did not want Elsie to go and get lost in the Bush, and 
perhaps bitten by a snake. Ina, herself, was one of those 
who turned back. She w^as not a coward, but she was deli- 
cate, and Lord Horace did not seem to want her company. 
It was quite evident that he thought Mrs. Allanby enough 
to take care of. Mrs. Allanby had in her way a sort of 
quiet recklessness. She had never looked handsomer : the 
slumbering fires of her eyes had darted into life, and her 
pale cheeks were reddened with excitement or sunburn. 
Trant swore that he would be responsible for Elsie’s safety. 
He knew the country better than Frank— scrubbers from 
Barolin Gorge often got lost in Barolin scrub, he explained. 
Lady Horace need not be alarmed. Ina kissed her sister in 
a melancholy way as they parted at the lichen-covered 
boulders. Both afterwards remembered Ina’s fears. Lord 
Horace grumbled — Jem Hallett laughed at her. “ I’m su- 
perstitious,” said the little woman — “ yes, I know. But I 
can’t help it. and I shall not be happy until you all get safe 
back to Tunimba.” 

The party divided. Those turning tliscir faces to the wil- 
derness mounted and rode into the defile with the blackness 
of the scrub before them and Mount Luya barring the hori- 
zon, while the others went down along the gulley, and both 
parties were soon swallow^ed up in the gloom of the gorge. 
Elsie seemed fated to hear the asides of Trant and his hench- 
man. Perhaps this was because Trant kept so assiduously 
at her bridle rein. Lord Waveryng had solemnly commit- 
ted his wife into Frank Hallett’s keeping. Lady Waveryng 
did not like Trant — she had counted, she said, on Mr. Blake 
being of the party, and joined her entreaties to those of her 
husband. Thus Elsie found herself for the nonce deserted 


A BUSH picnic: 


289 


by her legitimate protector, and it was she herself, partly 
out of perversity, who claimed Trant as a cavalier. The half- 
castes jogged ahead, Frank Hallett and Lady Waveryng fol- 
lowed, and then Minnie Pryde and a young bushman who 
showed symptoms of adoration. Mr. Craig was a well-to-do 
squatter, albeit rough in his ways, and Elsie thought that 
Minnie meant business this time, and she wondered how she 
should like Minnie for a neighbour on the Lower Luya, 
where was being built the splendid new house which she 
and Frank were to inhabit after their honeymoon and the 
English trip. Lord Horace and Mrs. Allan by were behind 
everyone else. Sam Shehan was riding sulkily in front of 
Elsie and Trant. 

“ Sam,” called out Trant, “ you’d better push ahead and 
see about the camp.” 

Sam took no notice. Trant looked annoyed. “ Sam is 
not in the best of tempers,” he said. “ This kind of ladies’ 
picnic is not much in his way. I’ll go and give him a bit of 
my mind.” 

Trant spurred his horse, and the two were presently in a 
somewhat animated conference. It struck Elsie that it was 
Shehan who was giving his master a bit of his mind. Elsie 
lagged. She looked round for Lord Horace. And then she 
saw what gave her an odd start and opened her eyes to the 
state of affairs. Lord Horace was bending close to Mrs. 
Allanby. The faces of the two were turned to each other. 
Lord Horace looked very handsome : he was evidently 
pleading, and Mrs. Allanby was listening to him with a 
dreamy passionate eagerness. Elsie had never seen that 
expression upon her still, reserved face. The girl knew 
intuitively that the woman loved her brother-in-law. And 
then she saw Lord Horace bend closer still, and as the 
two horses touched, Lord Horace laid a kiss upon Mrs. Allan- 
by’s responsive lips. Elsie’s heart swelled with anger and 
shame. A fierce blush came to her face — that Ina should 
be so insulted ! — Ina, who was angelic in her goodness to 
Horace. Did Ina know or guess ? and was this the cause of 
Ina’s pale sad face ? Or was it possible that Ina knew and 


290 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


A 

did not care, because she bad ceased to love her husband — 
had perhaps never loved him ? Like a lightning flash this 
truth seemed borne in upon Elsie. She, too, urged on her 
horse, and the spirited creature in a few bounds had taken 
her almost beside Trant and his stockman. And then Elsie 
heard Sam Shehan say in angry tones “ What is the sense 
of bringing these swell English toffs up here — and that 

d d Frank Hallett ? I tell you I don’t like it. The thing 

is too dangerous.” 

“ If you reflect a moment, my good Sam, you will see 
that it is the most diplomatic course one could possibly 
pursue. I was in great hopes that Macpherson would 
have joined our party. Now, that would have been 
truly dramatic ! He would never have come this way 
again.” 

Oh, blow all that nonsense ! ” said Shehan. He looked 
round as he spoke, and became aware that Elsie was within 
earshot. He shut his mouth with the stockman’s expressive 
click of his tongue and teeth which implies reserve and 
caution. Elsie was quite aware of this, but she only took 
in dazedly the significance of Sheehan’s sudden silence. 
She was too pre-occupied with her own discovery, and the 
manner in which it might affect her sister’s happiness, to 
give much thought to the mysteries of Sam Shehan and 
Dominic Trant. 

Trant noticed her discomposed look as he came back to 
her, while Shehan pushed on, as he had been bid, and joined 
the half-castes. 

“ Shehan has the true native’s objection to swell English 
people,” he said airily, though he furtively watched the 
effect of his words. “ I am sorry to say that he has been 
swearing vigorously at Lord and Lady Waveryng, and even 
at Mr. Frank Hallett, who he fancies is responsible for hav- 
ing brought them here. The fact is,” Trant added, “ Shehan 
wanted to have a chase after Moonlight— he has a theory 
that the Bushrangers are in hiding somewhere up here, and 
he doesn’t want the game disturbed by this sort of thing. 
I told him that we were near having Captain Macpherson, 


CAMPING OUTP 291 

and that we might have shown the troopers a bit of really 
wild country, hut Sam didn’t see the fun.” 

Elsie did not answer. “ What is the matter ? ” he said. 
“You look as if you had seen a ghost.” 

“I have seen a ghost,” she replied. “Never mind. 
Don’t speak to me for a bit. I want to think.” 

And just then silence became compulsory, for the track 
was too narrow and broken for them to ride any more to- 
gether. 

The sun had set when they reached the border of the 
scrub, where Sam Shehan and the half-castes had already 
lighted the camp fires. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 

“camping out.” 

“ It puts me a little in mind of a view from the Chabet 
Pass in Algeria,” said Lady Waveryng, “if you could im- 
agine a coach road here.” 

“ Not the least in the world,” said Trant, bluntly. He 
did not now say “ My Lady,” having got over his first awe, 
being one of those persons who, too obsequious at a distance, 
figuratively speaking, become familiar to ill-breeding when 
the social barriers are at all lowered. liady Waveryng 
looked at him a little haughtily, but did not reply to him, 
only saying, as she turned to Elsie, “ It is wild enough for 
anything, anyhow.” 

Yes, certainly, it was wild enough for anything. The 
mountains rose so close that the sense of size was lost — 
Mount Luya and its spurs to front and right, the jagged 
peaks of Mount Burrum barring the horizon on the left, so 
that they seemed in a cul-de-sac closed in by gigantic walls. 
Behind them were the forest wolds broken by volcanic-look- 
ing hills sparsely covered with hoary gums, and in places 
with nothing but the weird jagged speared grass-trees, with 
here and there a great lichen-grown rock or cairn of grey 


292 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


stones peculiar to the district. The loneliness was intense. 
The men had set the camp on a little clear plateau, on one 
of the mountain spurs, with a ravine on each side, from 
which came the sound of a torrent rushing over stones. 
This torrent was one of the heads of the Luya river, forming 
in places a wide rocky bed bordered with dense scrub. All 
round, except from whence they had come, rose thick black 
scrub, up to where the mountains rose sheer — both Luya 
and Burrum being somewhat of the same conformation, 
their peaks girdled with ribbed precipices, But Mount 
Luya had this peculiarity, that the summit was fiat— indeed 
the flatness seemed a depression, and was in truth the hol- 
low of an extinct crater, now a lake. A lower peak, evi- 
dently also a dead volcano, stood out from the higher one 
like a huge flat-topped excrescence, completely surrounded, 
except where it joined the mountain, by a perfectly bare 
wall of rock and absolutely inaccessible. The pines grew 
up to this wall, but there were none above it — only the deso- 
late grandeur of the naked rock. Beyond this projecting 
platform, as it seemed, the precipice shelved into the heart 
of the mountain, with the river running below it and 
another inaccessible wall of rock upon the other side nar- 
rowing into a Y, so that the cleft had the appearance of a 
slice cut bodily from the mountain, and the hollow was 
black, with what appeared to be impenetrable scrub. Here 
was the Barolin Fall, and some of the party fancied that 
they could hear in the distance the thunder of the waters. 

A few white gums, with peeling bark and long withes 
of grey moss, had a spectral look against the pyramidal 
blackness of the bunyas and the spinnifex jungle. The 
camp fires looked cheerful in the gloom of this shut-in re- 
gion, though the summits of Burrum and Luya were golden 
in the setting sun. Great boulders of rock strewed the little 
treeless place. Some rose like misshapen monoliths to a 
considerable height, some were piled as though by design 
one upon another, and smaller stones lay pell mell, grass 
and ferns growing between them. On the slope of the 
pinch were a few twisted grass trees, and Frank Hallett, 


CAMPING out: 


293 


with the bushman’s forethought, went to these, and directed 
one of the men to cut a quantity of the grassy tufts, which 
he spread in one corner of the tent that was being put up 
for the ladies to sleep in. Minnie Pryde’s squatter had al- 
ready cut and fixed the tent poles and was spreading the 
canvas. 

The pack horse was unsaddled, and from the gaping 
saddlebags protruded provisions and cooking implements. 
The tin “ billys ” and pint pots and jack-shays, strung to- 
gether by a saddle strap, lay on the ground. The black boys 
carried a dipper to the creek to be filled. As the sun sank, 
the stars came out all glorious in a cloudless sky, Sirius like 
a far-off beacon and the bright evening star and familiar 
constellations, with the brilliant pointers of the Southern 
Cross dipping below the left peak of Burrum. The men set 
to work to gather dead bunya cones and sticks and dry logs 
to make a blaze that would give all the light they needed. 
But Prank Hallett had brought lanterns for the ladies’ tent, 
and it was he who, assisted by Elsie and Minnie Pryde, 
spread the blankets and carried in the valises and hung a 
red blanket for a curtain at the doorway, while Lady Wa- 
veryng and Mrs. Allanby laid the table and unpacked the 
provisions. 

And then came the merry meal. Oh, it was merry, in 
spite of Elsie’s sad heart and Trant’s melodramatic love, 
and the other love that was scarcely innocent between 
the two who to gratify it must overleap barriers. Elsie’s 
knowledge of this secret love drowned the sense of her 
ow'n pain. But was it possible that Lord Horace could 
feel for any woman a serious and absorbing attach- 
ment ? Was his light nature capable of any tragic emo- 
tion ? If not, Mrs. Allanby ’s nature certainly was. Elsie 
watched the two. Her brother-in-law was haggard and 
pale, and evidently consumed by a hidden anxiety. Lady 
Waveryng noticed that he was unlike himself, and asked 
him if anything were amiss, and if he was fretting for Ina. 
Lord Horace laughed, and became feverishly gay. A quar- 
ter of an hour afterwards he was plunged in thought. Mrs. 


294 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Allanby’s mood, too, was fitful. In both were the signs of 
repressed excitement. They appeared to avoid each other. 
But their eyes were continually meeting. 

It was a curious and romantic scene. The lonely night 
and solemn mountains, the black forest in which perhaps 
white foot had never trodden, the fire-illumined patch and 
grey boulders that seemed to belong to primeval times. 
And in contrast, this little group of nineteenth-century peo- 
ple, all young — almost all handsome, the outside band of 
stockmen and the two half castes and this inner circle — the 
men in their bushmen’s dress. Frank Hallett and Trant 
stalwart and splendid with animal health and vigour ; Lord 
Horace with his Apollo face and that nameless stamp of the 
old world aristocracy ; Lady Waveryng, with the same 
stamp — highbred, and yet simple, the natural product of 
centuries of civilization ; Mrs. Allan by — a perfumed exotic, 
not altogether wholesome; Elsie — wild, tropical fiower, and 
Minnie Pryde — typically Australian, reminding one with a 
tendency for floral simile of a sprig of her own fresh native 
wattle. 

Someone suggested songs. Trant’s rich voice rose and 
fell on the luxurious night in those exquisitely passionate 
words of Shelley, “ I arise from dreams of thee,” his eyes 
fixed all the while on Elsie. It was to her that he was sing- 
ing: it was for her that his soul was thrilling. Poor Domi- 
nic Trant! He was almost poetic when he sang. 

Lord Horace’s neat tenor went well with his sister’s mild 
but cultivated soprano, in some of the Gilbert and Sullivan 
airs. They both liked modern opera. One song led on to 
another — Gilbert and Sullivan and nigger melodies, and 
old English glees, till somebody — it was Lady Waveryng 
— cried out that it was a shame and a treachery on this 
Australian night, under these Southern stars, and in this 
lonely Australian bush, not to sing one truly Australian 
song. 

Then Trant lifted his voice again, in that favourite bush 
lament for the dead stockman, Lord Horace and the others 
joining in the refrain : — 


CAMPING out: 


295 


For he sleeps where the wattles 
Their sweet fragrance shed, 

And tall gum trees shadow 
The Stockman’s last bed. 

And when the music ceased there came the wild sounds of 
the Australian night, the curlew’s moan, the howl of the 
dingoes, the strange sad plaint of the native bear, which is 
like the cry of a lost child; and through all the clank of the 
horses’ hobbles and the “ poo-mp, poom-p ” of their bells. It 
was a long time before Elsie, on her grass-tree bed, fell 
asleep, and then she dreamed unquiet dreams. 

How wild and wonderful it was! They had left their 
horses in charge of one of the stockmen, and were threading 
their way through the scrub to the foot of Barolin Fall. It 
was not quite so difficult as Sam Shehan’s description would 
have made them believe, but it was still sufliciently hard go- 
ing for even a stout bush man, to say nothing of delicate 
women. They tried to follow the bed of the river, diverg- 
ing only when the water-side track became impracticable. 
For there were quicksands, slimy and treacherous, in which 
at any moment they might have got engulfed, and of which 
the half castes showed a curious knowledge ; and there were 
giant trunks of fallen trees, and there were landslips and 
impassable rocks and impenetrable thickets of the horrible 
prickly spinnifex. And there was always the especial dan- 
ger to beware of — the dreaded piora^ of which they heard 
much, but which as yet they had not seen. They had, how- 
ever, seen more than one dead adder, more dangerous than 
the pursuingpmra, for squat and sluggish and of colour and 
shape resembling a bit of dead wood, it may be trodden on 
or kicked aside with consequences, alas, too fatal. 

Lady Waveryng’s stout hunting habit was torn in many 
places, and her smart, high boots were scratched and blistered. 
She was the most adventurous of the party, and kept ahead 
with Frank Hallett, between whom and Trant there was a 
friendly rivalship as to which should best guide the fair being 
committed to his care. Perhaps more than once Frank 
envied Elsie’s cavalier, but Elsie insisted that, for the honour 


29G 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


of the Luya, he must in no wise desert his English charge. 
She herself had no reason to complain. Trant was defer- 
ence itself. Whatever there may have been of underlying 
passion, outwardly he was quite composed and showed noth- 
ing of the desperation of the day before. Lord Horace and 
Mrs. Allanby lagged somewhat. She was fragile, and he 
was unused to such rough climbing. But she had the spirit 
of race, and she would not be outdone by Lady Waveryng 
and Elsie. 

From the spot where they had encamped, it was not 
really any great distance to Barolin, it was the roughness 
of the country that made- the expedition so difficult. They 
had left the camp almost at daylight, and some three hours 
of arduous walking brought them within sight of their des- 
tination. The noise of the Waterfall had partly guided 
them, increasing with every step they took. They had kept 
on the edge of the bunya scrub. Once, when Frank Hallett 
had tried to push his way through the thickness of the trees 
in order to avoid a stony ridge hard to scale, Trant and Sam 
Shehan had interposed in an uneasy manner, and had as- 
sured him that it was dangerous to venture within the mazes 
of the scrub, and that progress was impossible on account of 
the density of the prickly foliage. Frank had resented the 
imputation on his bushmanship, but Trant and the stock- 
man carried their point, and they had climbed over the rocks 
of the river bed instead of going round. 

And now, at last, they were at the base of the V. The 
mountain towered straight overhead. The precipice took a 
slight curve to the left, making another side nick in the 
mountain, and giving to the secondary platform the appear- 
ance of an island, or of an extremely narrow-necked penin- 
sula. They could almost fancy that they saw the waters of 
a lake in the slight depression of the summit. But Trant, 
who had keener eyes than the others, declared that it was 
only the sun making a rocky surface glisten. 

“ By Jove,” cried Lord Horace, excitedly, I’d give any- 
thing to get to the top of that peak,” and he went off to con- 
sult the half castes. But both Pompo and Jack Nutty shook 


AMPIN a OUTN 297 

their heads and declined to budge a step further. Even they 
had their superstitions. 

“ Ba’al, me go. Black no like this place. Debil-debil sit 
down alongside Barolin,” sulkily replied Pompo ; and Sam 
Shehan pointed to a smooth, treacherous bed of sand, where 
the river course widened and wound round the precipice, 
and explained with a greater fulness of detail than might 
have been expected from his usually taciturn demeanour, 
that no doubt the tales of Barolin Eock and the second 
Waterfall— the existence of which he flatly denied, having, 
he said, gone as far round the precipice as it was possible 
for human being to venture — and the legend of the petrified 
chief waking to lure his victims to destruction had arisen 
from the fact of the quicksand which made it impossible for 
man or beast to cross the river bed. 

“Well, at any rate,” said Lady Waveryng, who was 
more tired than she had expected, and not altogether inclined 
for further exploration, “ this is well worth having gone 
through so much to see.” 

The waterfall, fed it was said by a subterranean channel 
from the lake on the top of Mount Luya was of no enormous 
height or volume, but could hardly be equalled in pictur- 
esqueness, as it stole from the black masses of the scrub, 
with the grand girdling precipice just above— a sharp wavy 
line against the sky— its colour a greenish white, the band 
broken into a foamy zig-zag midway in its course, and 
thundering in a cloud of spray into a round pool of deepest 
intensest blue churned into froth where the waters met. 
The jagged pines gave a certain weirdness to the scene, and 
the utter absence of any sign of humanity added to its ex- 
treme wildness and desolation. A few giant gums hung 
with moss grew a little back from the river bed. Here and 
there was a funereal cedar, and the ti-trees on the lower banks 
were twisted and bent with the force of floods, which had 
left their mark on the precipice and had swept into the 
watercourse huge boulders of stone, great tree-trunks, and 
wrack of every kind. In places the river bed glistened with 
crystals as bright almost as diamonds. Close on each side 


298 


0 UTLA W AND LA WMAKER. 


the mountains rose, and always till the naked rock began, 
that dense black wilderness of scrub. 

Pouches were unstrapped, and the half castes, who had 
been the beasts of burden, undid their rolls of provisions, 
while flasks were dipped in the ice-cold water of the pool. 
There was an hour to spare when the light repast was over. 
The Kodak came into requisition again. Minnie Pryde and 
Mr. Craig wandered off to collect crystals. Lady Waver- 
yng, anxious to secure a root of a curious fern which she 
saw growing on a rock beside the waterfall, claimed Frank 
Hallett’s services, and Trant turned to Elsie. 

“Will you do me a favour?” he said with repressed 
emotion; “ it’s the last favour I shall ever ask you.” 

“ What is it ? ” she asked, snatching at a straw of excite- 
ment. A dull dead depression seemed to have settled upon 
her, a nausea of everything. The watching of Frank Hal- 
lett’s square well-knit figure as he piloted Lady Waveryng 
had got on her nerves. She was grateful to Lady Waver- 
yng for keeping him. To have talked to him would have 
driven her mad with irritation. All the time she was in 
imagination seeing Blake. Oh, why was he not here ? 

“You know that I love you,” Trant spoke with a deadly 
quietude ; “ I quite see that my love is hopeless. You are 
going to marry Frank Hallett in a month’s time. For my- 
self, I am leaving Australia, you are driving me away, you 
have to a certain extent spoiled my life, you owe me some- 
thing, even if it’s only indulgence of a sentimental whim.” 

“ Well, tell me ; if I can I will grant you the favour.” 

“You mightn’t think me a man of sentiment. But I 
assure you that I have fancies that are not unpoetic. Do 
you remember speaking about the legend of the Barolin 
rock, and that you were determined at any cost to reach it ? 
You are at the Fall, but your keenness to see the petrified 
chief seems to have left you.” 

“ Sam Shehan says there’s no such rock,” she answered. 

“ There is. I have seen it, it’s exactly as you told me 
Yoolaman Tommy described it, a rock like a man’s head 
with a beard and long hair of grey moss.” 


CAMPiyo ourr 


299 


“ How did you find that out ? ” she asked, interested. 

“ Because I came here. I was determined that I, and no 
other, should stand with you before that rock. I meant to 
tell you there of my love ; you see, however, that I couldn’t 
wait for that. Now I want you to let me bid you there my 
last good-bye. No other white woman will ever have stood 
there, Elsie,” he went on. “ There’s a secret track through 
the mountain known only to one or two of the blacks. 
Pompo showed it to me. At one time the blacks had their 
mysterious Bora grounds here, and then something hap- 
pened. I think from Pompo’s description that it must have 
been an earthquake shock, and since then they have had a 
superstitious terror of the place and will never speak of it. 
They look upon it as the abode of the Great Yoolatanah, 
and it’s sacrilege to give any information about it. But as 
I have told you, Pompo would do anything for me.” 

“ Oh ! go on. This is quite interesting. Is it far ? ” 

“ Not half a mile. We could go and come back 
before it is time to start for the camp. Elsie, will you 
come ? ” 

She looked doubtful. The man’s eagerness frightened 
her a little. And yet she loved danger. ‘‘Why do you 
want me to go ? May Minnie Pryde come ? ” 

“ Minnie Pryde ! ” He gave a gesture of disgust. 

“ Then Lady Waveryng. Think of her book ! ” 

“ No, to rob the whole thing of its poetry, it’s one especial 
charm to me. I have thought of this and nothing else since 
we planned the picnic. I am thankful Blake is not with us,” 
he went on, “ for now I can have you to myself — no one to 
interpose. Oh, I know you love Blake ; you need not deny 
it. He has been here too. And you, he, and I will for ever 
be associated with this wild poetic spot. Elsie, you are the 
one poetic element of my Australian life — you are the god- 
dess of these wilds. I want you to be enshrined in them as 
it were— enshrined in my heart — in my memory. It is a 
fitting scene for an everlasting farewell.” He laughed in a 
grim way, yet his face twitched with emotion. 

“ Well ? ” he said. ‘‘ Are you afraid of me ? ” 

20 


300 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“No. I have often told you that I am not afraid of 
you.” 

“ Prove it then.” 

“ Besides,” she added, laughing, “ look here, Frank gave 
me this, and I have been practising. It is a precaution 
against Moonlight. ” 

She showed him a tiny pocket pistol, which she took 
from under the jacket of her habit. 

He laughed again, too. “ You won’t need it. And I 
don’t believe you could hit a haystack if you tried. T 
promise that I won’t even ask you to kiss me. I’ll take 
your hand in mine, and I’ll look into your eyes, and I’ll say 
‘Good-bye, Elsie Valliant’ ” 

“ No, no ; not that,” she cried — “ not good-bye, Elsie Val- 
liant. Only good-bye.” 

“ As you like. Will you come. They are all going off 
except Mrs. Allanby.” 

It was so. Frank Hallett turned as he followed Lady 
Waveryng. “Won’t you come wuth us, Elsie ? ” 

“ No,” she said, and laughed. “ Two is company, you 
know, and three is trumpery : and I don’t fancy climbing 
the waterfall.” 

“ I daresay you are right,” he said, a little wistfully : 
“ you must not tire yourself, and you mustn’t lose yourself if 
you wander about. Don’t let us miss each other, we ought 
not to be too long.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Trant has promised to take care of me,” she 
said lightly. 

“ And as I have been here before.” said Trant, “ and 
know the country. Miss Valliant would be quite safe even 
if we did miss each other. I could take her back to the 
camp.” 

Frank looked a little uneasy. “You had better stay 
quietly here,” he said, “ like Mrs. Allanby, who is too tired 
to stir another step.” 

Mrs. Allanby was reclining in a graceful attitude 
against a rock, and Lord Horace not far from her was 
in an absent manner prodding the crevices of a nat- 


“ THE ROCK OF THE HUMAN HEADN 301 

ural rockery out of wliicti grew ferns and strange spiky 
plants. 

“For goodness sake look out for snakes,’’ said Trant to 
him. “ This place swarms with them.” 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

“the rock of the human 5EAD.” 

Elsie turned away from the married and forbidden 
lovers with a little shiver of disgust, and she and Trant, 
unnoticed by the other two, strolled presently out of the 
gorge. The turn of a rocky screen put them out of sight. 
They stood presently in front of the precipice, and appar- 
ently further progress seemed barred. “ Well ? ” she said. 

Trant pointed with a staff he had cut from a stout gum- 
sapling to a hole just above her head half covered with 
hoya creepers. It looked, only that it was too large, like 
the hole of a wallaby or native bear. He swung himself 
up to it. “I could take you another way,” he said, “but 
this will save time.” In a moment he had disappeared 
within the hole, which she now saw was even larger than it 
had seemed, and must have a drop within. The upper part 
of his body showed and his arm and the staff, which he 
stretched down. 

“ Do you think you could put your foot in that little 
cleft ? ” he said. “ You will find it much easier than it looks ; 
then take my hand and I will lift you here.” 

She did as he bade her. The girl liked mystery, and her 
face was fiushed .with interest. In a few moments she 
found herself walking on a higher level within the rampart 
of the rock in a kind of corridor, with the sky far overhead. 
“ Oh, how extraordinary ! ” she cried. 

He repeated his caution against snakes, and made her 
lift her habit and show him her boots and gaiters, which he 
declared stout enough almost to defy a serpent’s fangs. 


302 


OUTLA IV AiVB LA WMAKER. 


The corridor dipped down every now and then, and was 
sufficiently rough walking for her frequently to require his 
helping hand. Once when it was withdrawn for him to 
cut away a prickly creeper that the late heavy rains had 
evidently detached from the outer rock she stumbled and 
fell, and in doing so hit her knee against a hard object, 
which she picked up. To her astonishment it was a horse’s 
shoe. 

“ How could this possibly have got here ? ” she cried. “ It 
is not conceivable that a horse could have climbed that wall 
and come in by the hole.’’ 

“The hole is big enough,” said Trant, with his queer 
laugh, “and trained horses have been known to do more 
extraordinary feats even than that. The wall isn’t really 
so steep as it looks. But,” he added hastily, “ it is far more 
likely that there has been a stockman here at some time — 
Sam Shehan, who threw the shoe against the rock and 
struck our hole with it probably, for I am quite of Mr. 
Frank Hallett’s opinion,” added Trant with candour, “ that 
in the days before his reformation, Sam Shehan did a little 
cattle-duffing business and made use of this place, which is 
out of the way, and yet close at hand, as a plant.” 

“ Mr. Trant,” exclaimed Elsie, “ does it not strike you 
that this is just the kind of place Moonlight might choose 
to hide in ? ” 

“ If it were,” said Trant grimly, “ I should have been a 
richer man by the £8,000 reward which a liberal Leichardt’s 
Land Government offer for his capture, to say nothing of 
Lord Waveryng’s £2,000. And if I had not chosen to avail 
myself of the opportunity, Sam Shehan would certainly 
have done so. We explored this spot thoroughly when 
Captain Macpherson was at the Gorge. Very likely the 
shoe was pitched over the wall then.” 

They emerged from the passage, which gave out upon 
an open ledge, and which, as they saw, skirted the quick- 
sand. Descending sheer from the ledge was a precipice 
lapped by a long deep black lagoon, into which the sands 
shelved. The ledge, though fairly wide, would have been 


THE ROCK OF THE HUMAN HEAD. 


303 


hardly perceivable from the opposite side of the water- 
course. While in the passage they had been steadily 
mounting upward, and now, Elsie saw, were about half the 
height of the lower crater peak. And then as they turned 
a rounded corner she came,- still mounting, suddenly in 
sight of the legendary Barolin rock. 

Yes, it was exactly as King Tommy of Yoolaman had 
described it — a great black bluff boulder, fashioned by Na- 
ture into the rude semblance of a human head, the back part 
of which, being somewhat corrugated and affording a de- 
posit ground for drift and windblown particles, had become 
overgrown with grey hanging lichen that in the distance 
gave the appearance of an old man's hair. Strangely sol- 
emn and impressive did this rough-hewn image seem, set in 
this desolate grandeur of mountain and scrub. They were 
within a few yards of the rock. Here the ledge widened 
out into a sort of plateau, where grew some dark green 
shrubs with a strong scented yellow flower which she did 
not know, and a quantity of the sage green aromatic plant 
that abounded at Point Row. Out of the precipice behind 
waved a profusion of feathery rock-lilies, and there were 
many other flowers and plants making the spot a mass of 
colour and bloom. She noticed now for the first time— per- 
haps because it cut the vegetation — that there was a distinct 
track leading right up to the rock. Trant remarked the 
direction of her eyes. “ That must have been made by the 
Blacks on their way to the sacred ceremony. Would you 
like to see a Bora ground. Miss Valliant ? There’s a sort of 
cave behind that rock.” 

Elsie followed him, excited by the adventure. The rock 
of the human head stood out from the mountain behind it. 
Between it and the precipice was a shadowy space, and here 
the wall scooped inward. Trant put out his hand and took 
Elsie’s. “ Take care, it is dark, and you may stumble.” 

She suffered hei’self to be guided along what seemed a 
narrow gallery. Presently she knew that they were in a 
cave, and as they moved gropingly on, she felt by the rush 
of air, and a certain sense of space and dryness, that the 


304 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


cave was a large one. And then a sudden feeling of terror 
overcame her. Anything might happen to her here. How 
had she been so mad as to trust herself in this lonely place 
with Dominic Trant ? 

“I don’t like it,” she exclaimed, nervously. “ Mr. Trant, 
I feel frightened. I should like to get hack to the others* 
Take me out of this.” 

“ In a few moments. It is the darkness that frightens 
you. There is light when we come to the Bora ground ; and 
it is really worth your while to see it.” 

“ I don’t care to see the Bora ground,” she answered. 
“ I hate this darkness. Please take me back to the others.” 

“ If you will wait a moment I will light a match,” he 
said, “ and then you will see where we are, and will not be 
frightened any longer.” 

He released her hand, and she fancied that she heard 
him fumbling. It was so dim that she could only just see 
his form. Then he seemed to move behind her. 

“ What are you doing ? ” she said, sharply. 

“There is a draught. I want to get into the shelter of . 
the rock,” he replied. 

Elsie waited for the light. It never came. Suddenly 
she became aware of an odd sickly odour, and at the same 
instant something was thrown over her face — something 
vret and suffocating. She struggled, became dizzy with a 
strange singing in her ears. And then she knew no more. 


CHAPTER XXXHI. 

ENTRAPPED. 

When she came to herself she thought for a few mo- 
ments that she must be in a dream, so strange was the scene 
upon which her eyes opened. She was no longer in dark- 
ness. The sun shone high in the heavens, and its rays fell 
upon what seemed to be a grassy meadow, green wi^h a green- 


ENTRAPPED. 


305 


ness rivalled only by the cultivation paddock at Tunimba. 
She was not sure that this was not a cultivation paddock. 
There were young oats certainly springing close to her. 
She seemed to be lying on the grass, and her head was rest- 
ing on a roll of soft blankets. And there was a patch of 
Indian corn, and here was a stack of hay built against a 
wall. Her eyes went upward. What a high wall it was ! 
It seemed to reach to the sky. And there were green things 
growing out of it, and it had a wavy outline against the 
blue, sharp and jagged here and there, like rocky teeth. 
Then her gaze came down and moved onward. There was 
another wall opposite, with the field between — a wall of 
rock all round. She was in some gigantic room without a 
roof, and with a floor that was like a cultivation paddock, 
and in the very centre of the paddock she saw a waterhole 
clear and darkly blue. She also saw that there were sev- 
eral horses grazing in the paddock— and one or two penned 
in a small stockyard at the further end of this natural en- 
closure. 

Where could she be ? She tried to think back. And 
she became conscious of a deadly nausea which made her 
feel like fainting, but which passed presently. She became 
aware also of that horrid sickly odour which clung to her. 
And this recalled to her the scene of the cave, and the expe- 
dition with Trant. 

She staggered to her feet and turned to find Trant lean- 
ing against the wall close beside her, and watching her 
anxiously. He was very pale, and his face was set and de- 
termined. Elsie understood everything now. This was 
the meaning of his melodramatic words. This was his plot 
for carrying her oif. To this end had he used his knowl- 
edge of this natural hiding-place, with the secret of which 
only the blacks were acquainted. With what devilish 
cleverness and apparent innocence he had carried out his 
purpose ! She was helpless as a trapped animal. She 
looked wildly round. The mountain was her prison. How 
was she to escape ; and even if she succeeded in making 
her escape from this prison, how find her way through the 


306 


OUa'LAW AND LAWMAKER. 


wider prison of the bunya scrub and down the trackless 
gorges to human habitation. Elsie’s heart sank with deadly 
fear. But she had a brave spirit, and she determined that 
she would never yield. She remembered her pistol, and 
felt for it at her waist. It was gone. Fool that she had 
been to show Trant her weapon ! 

“ I have taken it from you,” he said quietly. “ I don’t 
think I was in much danger of being shot by you ; but I 
didn’t want to run the risk.” 

“ If I had failed to shoot you,” she said, “ I should have 
shot myself. I understand everything now. This is what 
all your wild bravado about carrying me off meant ; a base 
cowardly plot to decoy a helpless girl. Mr. Trant, I am 
ashamed for you ; you, whom I trusted, thinking you were 
a man of honour.” 

“ Don't taunt me,” he said with an almost sad quietude. 
“ I deserve everything that you could say ; every reproach 
you could hurl at me. I have acted like a coward and a 
villain. But my excuse is this : I love you, Elsie ; and 
there was no other way.” 

“ You love' me,” she repeated, “ and you fancy that you 
can make me care for you by this means ? Don’t you know 
that you are making me hate you ? ” 

“ No,” he said, “you won’t hate rne, because you will see 
that though I can do a desperate thing to win a wmman’s 
love, I can also restrain myself to act like a gentleman. I 
shall treat you with the respect that I should pay to a queen 
— to my own sister. I can’t say more.” 

Elsie flushed deeply, and was silent for a moment. “I 
thank you for that at least,” she said. “Will you prove 
your words by taking me back to — to my future hus- 
band ?” 

“ No,” he cried, passionately. “Do you want to madden 
me ? I will not take you back to your future husband. You 
are with your future husband. I don’t inten d to let you leave 
this place till you go with me to be married.” 

“ Mr. Trant, this is madness— this is sheer absurdity. Do 
you imagine that you can keep me shut up here— do you 


ENTRAPPED. 307 

suppose that the whole district won’t rise to search for me ? 
Do you suppose that they will not find me ? ” 

“ Let them try,” said he calmly. “ I have no doubt that 
the district, headed by Mr. Frank Hallett, will come out in 
search of you; but I don’t think they are at all likely to find 
their way here. No one knows the secret of this place but 
those whom I can trust not to betray it.” 

“You said that Captain Macpherson had been here.” 

“No, I did not say so. Captain Macpherson would as 
soon think of searching for you — or for Moonlight — on the 
topmost peak of Burrum.” 

“ Then it is only Sam Shehan and the half-castes who 
know it ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“ And Mr. Blake ? ” she asked eagerly. “ Tell me does 
Mr. Blake know it ? ” 

“I cannot tell you.” A change came over Trant’s face. 
“ No,” he added, deliberately lying. “ Blake does not know 
it.” 

Elsie believed him. How should Blake know it ? How 
should he lend himself to such a scheme of iniquity ? 

“ Mr. Trant,” she said, “ you know that you cannot keep 
me here. The idea is nonsense. You are only trying to 
frighten me into making you some promise, or perhaps you 
are only playing some practical joke on me. Tell me, is 
that it ? ” 

“ Oh, no,” he answered. “ I assure you I am playing no 
practical joke. I’m in deadly earnest.” 

“ You will never frighten me into making you any prom- 
ise,” she said firmly. “ You may think I’m only a weak 
girl, but I’ve got plenty of pluck, I’m not going to give 
in.” 

“ I know you have got plenty of pluck,” he said, looking 
at her admiringly. “ That’s one reason why -I love you.” 

“ You think that I should be afraid of getting lost in the 
bush.' But I tell you that I am not. I shall get out, and I 
shall find my way to Tunimba.” 

“ Try,” he said, “ I give you full leave. I sha’n’t handcuff 


308 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


you. I sha'n’t chain you. Eoam about as you please, and 
try to find your way out of your prison.” 

She moved from him a few steps and walked on examin- 
ing the rocky wall. Then she realized how faint and weak 
she was. She attributed this to the chloroform. Her indig- 
nation rose. 

‘‘ You have made me sick with that horrible stuff— and 
you call yourself a gentleman! Oh! Mr. Trant, how dared 
you — how could you do so mean a thing ? ” 

“Yes, it was a mean thing. I own it, and I am ashamed 
of it. But I wish to tell* you this. I did not take one little 
advantage of your helplessness beyond carrying you here in 
my arms. I might have kissed you, and I was tempted to 
do it, but I didn’t. I kept my promise.” 

She made no answer. “ Elsie,” he said, “ I was afraid 
that I should never bring you to. You were so long insen- 
sible that I was afraid. I tried to make you swallow some 
brandy. Take some now.” 

He held out the cup of his flask to her. She felt need of 
the restorative, but stopped as she stretched out her hand. 

“ How do I know that you have not drugged it ? ” • 

“ I swear to you that I have not. And if it comes to that, 
are you going to starve yourself, and die of thirst ? Every- 
thing I give you might be drugged.” 

“That is true,” she said, “and I shall need my strength.” 
She drank the brandy. “What time is it ? ” she asked sud- 
denly. He looked at his watch. “It is exactly mid-day.” 

“ And they were to start back at eleven. But they won’t 
leave the Fall. They’ll miss me and they will hunt for me. 
They’ll coo-ee, and they’ll hear me answering back.” She 
began to send out long ineffectual coo-ees. 

“ You may save your breath,” he said. “ It would be 
simply impossible to hear you through the thickness of the 
mountain. And they will naturally suppose that we have 
gone on towards the camp.” 

Elsie gave a faint groan, “ Oh ! Frank,” she cried help- 
lessly ; “ Oh ! Ina — Horace ! ” 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE WATERFALL. 309 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE TRAGEDY OF THE WATERFALL. 

But when Elsie, in her helpless despair, called aloud on 
Lord Horace and Ina, she did not know the trag-edy which 
had befallen Horace, and both Ina and another woman. 
Frank and Lady Waveryng had gone some way in search 
of specimens of ferns. Minnie Pryde and her lover — for 
such he now was — had disappeared. The young man with 
the Kodak was posing the half-castes at a little distance from 
the Fall, and Sam Shehan was jogging sulkily back towards 
the camp. All these several persons, with the exception of 
the stockman, were recalled by piercing shrieks rising above 
the roar of the waterfall. 

Lady Waveryng turned very pale. 

“ Good heavens ! what is that ? ” she cried. 

‘‘I am afraid something has happened,” said Frank 
Hallett. He only thought of Elsie, and strode on over 
stones and fallen trees and through patches of spinnifex 
like one possessed with fear. Lady Waveryng struggled to 
keep pace with him. Others had heard the shrieks. The 
young man with the Kodak was leaping the brushwood 
from an opposite direction, and so were Minnie Pryde and 
Mr. Craig. 

“ What is the matter ? ” they all cried. “ Has anything 
happened to Elsie ? ” They, too, thought of Elsie. 

But there was no sound nor sign of Elsie. It was Mrs. 
Allanby who came tragically forward. Her face was like 
death. She could scarcely speak, and only pointed with 
nerveless hand to where Lord Horace, looking strangely 
dazed and heavy, was leaning against a flat-topped rock. 

“ He put his hand on it,” gasped Mrs. Allanby. “ It bit 
him.” And then she uttered a heart-rending shriek. “ Oh, 

; my God, it is my punishment ! What shall I do ? what 
I shall I do ! he is all I had in the world.” 
j Lady Waveryng gave a sudden start, and looked at her 
[ straight with her proud eyes from under her level brows. 


310 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


She went direct to Mrs. Allanby, never losing her presence 
of mind, though she seemed to see at a glance what had 
happened. She took Mrs. Allanby’s hand. 

“ Hush,” she said imperiously, but very low. “ You mustn’t 
say such things ; for his sake and for your own, and for the 
sake of his wife.” 

“ It has bitten him,” cried Mrs. Allanby, “ and I fainted 
when I saw it, and there’s been time lost. Can’t you do 
anything ? Oh, can't you do anything ? But I know you 
can’t. It’s deadly ” 

And then she was seized with a fit of shuddering. 

Lady Waveryng shook her off, as though she too had 
been a reptile, and rushed to her brother’s side. 

“Take care, Em,” he said. “I’m done for, dear, and the 
beast is there yet.” 

And on the fiat top of the rock, sluggish, stunted of shape, 
and with the cruel broad head of the deadly reptile, was the 
death adder which had bitten him. 

Mr. Craig killed it. Frank Hallett had his knife out in a 
twinkling. “ Where ? ” he said. 

Lord Horace held out his hand. Frank made one or two 
transverse cuts, and then unhesitatingly put his mouth to the 
wound and sucked the blood, while Minnie Pryde’s squatter 
tied a ligature tightly round the arm. 

“ Too late, old chap,” said Lord Horace, faintly. “ It’s all 
up with me. All I can do is to die game, and whatever we 
Gages were, bad or good, we all of us could do that — couldn’t 
we, Em ? ” 

Lady Waveryng’s eyes gave the answer. She was very 
pale, almost stunned by the blow, but she never lost her self- 
possession, a contrast to the weeping panic-stricken woman 
whom Lord Horace loved. 

“ Can nothing be done ? ” she said, turning to Frank, and 
sweeping Mrs. Allanby with her gaze. “ Brandy, ammonia 
— is there no ammonia ? ” 

They had already begun pouring brandy down Lord 
Horace’s throat. No one had ammonia, an omission for 
which Frank cursed himself ; he usually carried his inject- 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE WATERFALL. 


311 


ing apparatus with him on the run, in the snake season; 
upon this occasion he had forgotten it. But in the face of 
that murderous blunt-headed reptile they all knew that 
neither brandy nor ammonia could be of any avail. 

Lord Horace’s face had become waxen in hue, and al- 
ready he had the dull, dazed look of a drunken man. It 
was only his healthy vitality which had kept the poison 
from working more speedily. He staggered as they walked 
him to and fro, and before many minutes the collapse came. 
Frank and Lady Waveryng did all they could to rouse him, 
and with an effort he collected his dying faculties. 

The others had drawn aside. Only Mrs. Allanby clung 
to him, and Lady Waveryng, stern and stately, and yet piti- 
ful, stood shielding them both. ^ 

“Horace,” she said, “is there anything you would like 
me to tell Ina ? ” 

Lord Horace’s glazed eyes fastened themselves on his sis- 
ter beseechingly, and wandered from her to Mrs. Allanby. 
“ Don’t let Ina know,” he said, “ and take care of her. I 
wasn't good enough for Ina.” 

And those were the last words he spoke. 

As if obeying his last behest, Lady Waveryng, when all 
was over, took Mrs. Allanby very gently by the hand and 
placed her on a ledge, in an angle of the rocks, where the 
poor woman sank moaning hysterically. 

“ It is my punishment,” she cried. “ God has sent His 
vengeance upon me. Do you know what he was doing when 
that thing fastened on him ? He had his arm round me ; he 
kissed me, he had put his hand down on the rock. His kiss 
— oh ! my God ! his last kiss ! ” 

“ Hush,” said Lady Waveryng, shuddering. “ He is dead. 
Think of his wife.” 

“ She never loved him,” Mrs. Allanby broke out. “ She 
loved Frank Hallett, who is going to marry her sister. She 
married him so that she might not be in her sister’s way. I 
know it. No one told me. It came to me. I saw it in her 
look. It was in her voice when she spoke to Frank. I 
told him. She is very good, too good for him, I sup- 


312 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


pose. I was better suited for him. . . . What does it 
matter to her ? ” The poor woman wandered on. “ She 
will be glad after a little while that he is dead. They 
never could have been happy. If she had been a different 
woman he wouldn’t have wanted me. He did want me. 
I -don’t know what would have come of it. I suppose 
we should have gone off together ; he asked me to go ; it 
was almost settled— yesterday, as we rode out. And now 
he is dead. And what is to become of me ? I worshipped 
him — I would have died for him. You should be sorry for 
me.” 

‘‘I am sorry for you,” said Lady Waveryng. “I will 
take care of you. I will shield you. Only for your own 
sake — for his sak^ don’t betray him now that he is dead; 
and remember that he was my favourite brother, and that 
if you mourn him as having lost your all, I too have lost 
almost the dearest thing in the world to me.” 

Mrs. Allanby grew more composed. Gradually she 
sank into a silent, tearless condition, keeping close to Lady 
Waveryng while arrangements were being made for taking 
the dead man to the camp. It was Frank Hallett who or- 
ganized these. A rough litter was prepared, on which the 
body was laid, and they carried it in turns through the 
gorges and along the scrub to the point where the horses 
were waiting. 

Trant stood motionless against the wall of the old crater. 
Elsie, strengthened by the brandy she had drunk, left him 
and walked on, determined to take the bearings of her 
prison. She walked steadily, examining every inch of the 
wall for an opening. She even looked for some little zig- 
zag path, some crumbling of the stone, some wallaby hole, 
but there was none. For the most part the wall was of 
naked rock, with here and there patches of hanging creepers, 
and as the sun lowered so long was the shadow it cast that 
she supposed the wall to be two or three hundred feet in 
height. She had walked almost round the enclosure when 
she at last saw an opening, leading she imagined into the 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE WATERFALL. 313 


cave through which she had passed from the outer world 
into this strange retreat. She went in and found herself in 
a lofty rock chamber, from which led several smaller grottoes, 
one of which was evidently used as a kind of stable, for 
there was fodder in it and the trace of a horse’s occupation. 
Saddles, bridles, and stout leather saddle hags lay stacked 
on the ground near the entrance to the stable cell. She 
wondered vaguely how they had come there, and by whom 
the place was used, but she was too dazed and her mind too 
pre-oceupied with her own danger for the real truth to take 
any hold upon her faculties. There was no outlet to the 
stable cell. Of that she assured herself, and proceeded to 
examine the rest of the chamber, going systematically round 
its wall. There were two other grottoes, both without an 
outlet, and both used apparently as sleeping quarters, for in 
each was a rude wooden bunk and roll of blankets and 
some saddlebags that seemed to he filled with blankets or 
clothes. In each also was a tin basin and soap, and some 
toilet implements. Elsie pursued her investigations in the 
larger cave. Here also was a bunk, and piled in the corner 
were some more rolls of blankets. Near the mouth of jthe 
cave were the remains of a fire, and there were several 
blackened billys and pint pots lying about. She saw also a 
rude settle and a sort of table made of slabs laid upon four 
firm stones. In a recess was a supply of provisions ; bags, 
large and small, some sticky with sugar and white and 
caked with flour, and others which she supposed contained 
tea; several small kegs, and some cakes of store tobacco. 
She saw also tins of preserved meat or grocery. Then the 
truth flashed upon Elsie. She was in Moonlight’s lair. 

She forgot everything in the excitement of her discovery. 
She rushed out into the open. Trant was still standing pas- 
sively against the wall. ‘‘ I know you,” the girl cried. 
“ How could you dare to bring me here ? Are you not 
afraid ? This is Moonlight’s hiding-place. You have been 
lying to me; lying, lying all through. I understand every- 
thing now. I understand why Sam Shehan didn’t want us 
to come here. You are Moonlight— you— you ” 


314 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


She burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. 

“ No,” he answered, ” I ara not Moonlight, and I am not 
lying to you now. It is true this is Moonlight’s lair. And 
are you surprised that the police haven’t found him ? But 
I am not Moonlight.” 

■ “ Then who is Moonlight ? ” she said. 

“ Ah,” he answered, “ it would surprise you to know 
that. Perhaps you may find out later.” 

“ Are you not afraid that I shall betray you ? ” she said. 

“ No. I have told you that I don’t intend to let you 
leave this place till you go with me to the nearest township 
to be married. You are not likely to betray your hus- 
band. Besides, I don’t mean to give you the chance. 1 
have made all my arrangements, and when I leave this it 
will be for good. The Moonlight drama is played out. 
As soon as you are Mrs. Dominic Trant, we sail for Eu- 
rope.” 

“Where are Lady Waveryng’s diamonds?” she asked 
suddenly. 

“ Do you think I am likely to tell you that ? ’’ he said. 
“ Let us drop unpleasant subjects, Elsie. You know the 
worst that is to be known. We have never killed anybody, 
and we have gone in for things on a generous scale. You 
can’t call us petty ruffians. In fact I have heard you ex- 
press admiration for Moonlight.” 

Again the girl was seized with hysterical laughter. Her 
mind went back to various episodes, seizing the threads 
brokenly. “ Oh ! Oh ! ” she gasped. “ And you pretended 
to condole with Lord Waveryng — and when you went 
away from the corroboree all that story about the butcher 
waiting ! — Oh I and at the Paces— and I remember how 
you joked at Moonlight and Captain Macpherson being 
fellow guests, and you have been pretending to help Cap- 
tain Macpherson. And then at Goondi — the gold-escort — 
at the election. Oh ! ” the girl’s eyes dilated, and she sud- 
denly stopped. She remembered the tall cloaked figure, 
the gleaming hilt of the revolver, the wild words, the flam- 
ing eyes. And then all came clear to her. 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE WATERFALL. 


315 


“ Oh, God ! ” she cried, and fainted. 

Never in all her life before to-day had Elsie fainted. 
Trant told her that she had been unconscious for a long 
time. When she came to herself he was chafing her hands 
with the tenderness of a woman. She asked him to leave 
her alone, and he went away. For a long time she lay on 
the grass and thought. She lay there till the sun had sunk 
behind the rampart of the old crater. 

By and by Trant came to her, and in a humble subdued 
manner asked her if she would like to see the place he had 
arranged for her to sleep in. Always to Trant’s credit it 
was to be remembered that he acted towards her with a 
certain chivalric consideration. She did not feel afraid of 
him now. Her very soul seemed numbed. He asked her 
if she would take his arm as ceremoniously as if they had 
been in a ballroom, and she accepted it again with that tend- 
ency to hysterical laughter. 

He took her into one of the smallest caves, and she was 
almost touched to see how carefully he had arranged it. 
He had put some hay on a bunk to serve as a mattress, and 
had spread the blankets smoothly upon it. He had spread 
another blanket on the floor, so that her feet should not 
touch the bare earth of the cave, and he had scoured the 
tin basin and filled a dipper with water, and laid some 
soap and even a raw edged cloth — torn from something — 
for a towel. He had dragged in some stones and a slab, 
and had extemporized a dressing table, on which he had put 
a tiny hand glass and a comb, and — loverlike touch ! — in a 
small pint pot were a few sprays of rock lily. He must 
have gone out and gathered them. 

“ I’m afraid it is very rough,” he said, “ but it’s the best I 
can do. Nothing will hurt you. You’ll be as safe here as 
if you were in Lady Horace’s room at the Dell. I shall be 
a good way off, but you can call me if anything frightens 
you. I’m going to camp outside. And now I shall get you 
some supper. ” 

He went out. Presently, however, he came back, and 
called her, “ Elsie ! ” 

21 


816 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


She went to him. 

“ Did you find the way out ? ” 

“ No,” she said, surprised, and fancying he was going to 
release her. 

“ Well, I’d better show you — just that it is no use hoping 
to get away — in case you tried to-night. Come with me.’ 

He had a tiny lantern in his hand, and she followed 
him. At one end, the larger cave, hollowed inward — she 
had not reached so far when the horror of her discovery 
had burst upon her. He led her here, and along a high 
narrow passage into which only the faintest glimmer of 
light came from what was evidently the larger cave, into 
which they had first come yesterday. She knew now that 
it must have been in this narrow passage he had chloro- 
formed her. He came to a stop and flashed his lantern 
against a black excrescence, which she saw was a large pro- 
jecting rock. She saw also beside it an iron tipped staff, 
which looked as if it had been a cart pole. “ Look at me,” 
he said ; “ I am a very large and powerful man.” 

“Yes,” she answered, bewildered. 

“ Well. Do you mind holding the lantern ? ” She took 
it from him, and he seized the pole and fixed it in a groove 
of the rock, using it as a lever and exerting all his strength 
to turn the mass outward. He was a long time at it. The 
sweat poured down his forehead. “ It takes two of us,” he 
said. “ Do you think you could do that ? ” 

By inches he moved the block, and she now saw that it 
w’as a stone that must have been dragged sideways from the 
outside, no doubt by a horse, which when placed across in a 
perpendicular position completely barred the passage. 

“ That’s the door of your prison,” he said. “ There’s only 
this entrance to the cave. You have my full leave to hunt 
for any other. You are not likely to escape.” 

“ No,” she answered, submissive in her bewilderment. 
He led her back again, lighted the fire, and proceeded with 
his preparations for supper. She tried to eat a little of the 
salt beef he had boiled, and even told him his johnny-cakes 
were excellent. It was all so grim, so extraordinary. In 


THE “ CRA TER ” PRISON, 


317 


his manner now there was nothing* melodramatic. . He 
might have been doing the honours of Barolin. When 
their meal was over she sat patient, supine, with no heart 
even to be angry. She knew that his eyes were on her all 
the time, but she would not look at him. At last she could 
bear the oppression of his presence in that confined place no 
longer, and got up and went outside. She longed to fling 
herself on the ground and sob, but pride kex^t her from this 
weakness. She would not let him think she was fright- 
ened. Presently he came out to her. “ Would you like me 
to sing ? ” he said, gently. 

She signified assent, and he began, his beautiful voice 
echoing strangely in this mountain heart. He sang on for 
an hour, all kinds of things, mostly sad, one or two spirited 
war songs, and among them “The Marseillaise.*’ 

Was ever stranger concert ! At last Elsie got up, and 
said she would go to bed, and he went with her like an at- 
tentive host, lighted a fat lamp, and conducted her to the 
door of her chamber. Then he bowed low and left her. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE “crater” prison. 


I 


Three days went by of this curious life— days that 
seemed like an eternity. Elsie sometimes wondered whether 
she had ever passed any other existence than this one within 
the crater prison, with Dominic Trant for her sole com- 
panion. She wondered what was going on in the outer 
world, whether the Luya was all out in search of her, 
whether Frank Hallett thought she was dead, whether Ina 
was mourning her as lost. Alas ! she did not know that 
Ina was a widow, mourning her husband — that Lord Horace 
was laid in his grave that very day. 

Elsie had found a copy of Shakespeare. She guessed to 
whom the book belonged, and she stayed as much as she 


318 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


could in her sleeping-cave, and tried to read. She avoided 
Trant as far as was possible, only seeing him at meals and 
when she took her daily walk in the crater-field. It was in 
one of these walks that she noticed among the other horses 
a splendid black thoroughbred, which somehow seemed 
familiar. Doubtless this was the famous Abatos. 

For the first day Trant was respectful, and almost timid. 
On the second day he alarmed her a little by his vehement 
declarations of love. On the third day he sought her per- 
sistently ; she was afraid that he would come to her own 
compartment in the cave, and she longed for the pistol he 
had taken from her, and w'hich she had since tried to 
wheedle from him, but to no purpose. On the night of the 
third day she thought she heard voices, but when she looked 
out into the larger cave there w^as no sign of anyone. Still 
she felt almost sure that Trant had had a visitor, and that 
the visitor had been Pompo, the half-caste. 

Her suspicion became certainty on the following morn- 
ing. It was her habit to remain in her cell, taking no break- 
fast, and only coming out at mid-day. She had kept her 
watch wound up and knew the hours. Otherwise there was 
little except the rising and drooping of the sun behind the 
walls of her prison to mark how the time sped. To-day Trant 
came to her cell and pushed aside the blanket which she 
had propped up with sticks against the entrance. 

“ Elsie,” he said, “ come out. I have something to say 
to you.” 

She obeyed him. His face had a grim determined look. 
She felt sure that some crisis had arrived. His eyes were 
flaming, and his whole manner showed that he had reached 
his limit of patience. 

Elsie,” he said, “ I can bear this no longer. I have been 
your humble slave for three days. Now I will be your 
master.” 

“ Sit here,” he said, and pointed to the settle in the larger 
cave. 

“ No,” she exclaimed, ‘‘ I will hear what you have to say 
outside.” 


THE CRATER'^ PRISON. 


319 

‘‘ I had a visitor last night/’ he said, when they were out- 
side the cave. 

“ I know. It was one of the half-castes.” 

“ It was the one who would go to perdition for me if I 
bade him — Pompo. If Ponipo had been a woman he— or 
she— would have died for love of me. Why can’t I make 
you love me ? Why can’t I magnetize you with my eyes, 
with my voice ? Look at me, Elsie. ” 

She did look at him. His eyes frightened her, and she 
averted her own. They had certainly a magnetic quality. 

“ I believe I could magnetize you if you would only look 
at me. Love me, Elsie ; what is the use of holding out ? I 
tell you that by fair means or foul, by gentleness or force, I 
mean to have you for my own.” 

“ You will not,” she said, ‘‘for I will kill myself fii’st.” 

“ No, you will think better of it. And, besides, you have 
nothing to kill yourself with now that I have taken your 
pistol from you. And I am so strong — so strong. I could 
crush you ; I could seize and break you in two. How are 
you going to withstand me ? ” 

He put his arms round her, as he spoke, and held her 
facing him as in a vice, not attempting to kiss her, but 
simply looking at her with a smile that terrified her. Then 
for the first time her courage failed her. She besought 
him; she pleaded with him; she appealed to his honour, to 
his manliness, to his love for her to let her go free. She 
would take any oath he chose to impose upon her ; she 
would never betray him ; she would thank him from the 
bottom of her heart ; she would pray for him ; she would 
always be his friend. Only would he have mercy on her 
and let her go back to Ina and Horace. 

“ Lord Horace is dead,” he said, with brutal suddenness. 

She thought he was jesting. He told her the story circum- 
stantially, as he had heard it from Pompo. The funeral 
had taken place the day before. Lady Horace, between 
the loss of her husband and that of her sister, was distracted. 
Mrs. Allanby was distracted also, and had made a scandal ; 
Trant seemed to gloat over the details. As for Elsie, the 


320 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


general impression was that she and Trant had wandered 
into the quicksands and got engulfed therein, or had been 
lost in the bunya scrub. At first, in the confusion following 
Lord Horace’s death, it had been taken for granted that the 
two were making their way to the camp. When it was 
discovered that they were missing, Frank Hallett had gone 
back to the Falls with two of the stockmen and the half- 
castes, and had searched in vain. Trant described with 
fiendish malice how Pompo had led him off the trail, and 
contrived that no suspicion of her real hiding-place could 
be aroused. Search-parties had been sent out from Tunim- 
ba. They were exploring the scrub. But the quicksand 
theory would certainly be accepted, and Trant told how he 
had bidden Pompo find on the borders of the lagoon where 
the sands shelved from the bank, a handkerchief of Elsie’s 
that he, Trant, had stolen, and the hat he himself had worn. 
That would settle the question, and it would be believed, for 
a time, at any rate, that the fate of Elsie Valliant was the 
same as that of Scott’s Pavenswood. 

“ Now it’s time this should end,’’ Trant went on. “ I am 
going to take you away with me to-night.” 

Elsie laughed hysterically. “ You can’t do that,” she 
said. “ I am not a baby that you can carry me. I think 
you would find me a very troublesome burden, and I tell 
you that I will throw myself down the precipice rather than 
go with you.” 

“We shall see,” he said grimly. “ I think I can find a 
means of making you obedient.” 

She understood. He meant to drug her, as he had done 
on her entrance. She realized her helplessness — realized 
also the uselessness of appeal or defiance. 

“ Tell me,” she said quietly, “ what you mean to do ? ” 

“ Pompo will be here with the horses about sundown. 
We shall ride all night, camp out if necessary. To-morrow 
we will take the steamer from Myall Heads for Sydney, 
and once there I shall marry you, and sail immediately for 
Europe. ” 

“Very well,” said Elsie, “I will go with you peaceably 


THE RATER'' PRISOX. 


321 


if you will give me your word of honour that you will not 
drug me.” 

‘‘ I shall not drug you unless you defy me. You think 
you will escape,” he added, “but I warn you that you won’t 
find that easy.” 

She went back to her cave. The day wore on. Curi- 
ously enough, her spirits rose at the thought of the wild 
night ride before her. Anything was better than imprison- 
ment here. She heard Trant moving about in the larger 
cave, and supposed that he was making preparations for 
departure. She wondered what the robbers had done 
with their booty — wondered where they had put Lady 
Waveryng’s diamonds — wondered. Oh, did he know 
that she was held captive in his secret lair ? She could 
not bear the thought. She had tried to keep it away 
— had tried to blunt her senses to the horror. Now it 
overcame her. She writhed in shame for him— in agony 
for herself. 

It was four o’clock. Trant came to the opening of her 
cell. “Come out,’' he said, “I have made some tea. It is 
not good for you to stay in there.” 

She obeyed. He was standing in the larger cave, and 
had laid the table with biscuits and tea. The light from 
the crater streamed into the cave. She saw that there were 
valises lying ready packed, and that the cave had been put 
in order, also that Trant was dressed for a journey. He 
drew forward the settle, laid a blanket upon it, and placed 
a rough footstool. There was a certain tenderness in his 
way of doing this, and in the manner in which he looked at 
her. “You have been crying,” he exclaimed ; “and I would 
give the world to make you happy.” 

“ Let me go, then,” she said ; take me back to Ina.'’ 

“ You ask me the one thing I cannot do for you. I could 
([iQ with jon. Give you up I cannot.” 

She sank into silence. He pressed her to drink the tea, 
but she refused. He proceeded to fill his flask, and to put up 
some bread and salt beef, and tea, and sugar in ration bags, 
which were laid by the valise. Then suddenly came a 


322 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


soiiud which made Trant start for a moment, and caused 
Elsie’s heart to leap. 

“ Pompo is a little earlier than I expected,” said Trant 
quietly, and went on with his preparations. 

The rock door had been moved by an outside lever. This 
was the sound Elsie beard, and which Trant had taken for 
granted was made by the half-castes. But it was not the 
black boy’s step that came towards the cave. This was a 
firmer, an altogether different tread. Trant knew it. He 
darted forward with a muffled oath. Elsie rose too. She 
recognized the advancing figure. It was Morres Blake. He 
was followed by Sam Shehan. 

Blake came right into the center of the cave. He had a 
revolver in his hand, and Elsie saw a look on his face which 
reminded her of the night at Goondi; a wild, desperate, and 
yet exalted look. 

He came straight towards Elsie, just pausing as he entered 
to say to Shehan, “ Get Abates.” 

Shehan went out by the crater entrance. Ignoring Trant’s 
presence, Blake said to Elsie, ‘‘ Miss Valliant, I have come to 
take you home.” 

And then all Elsie’s fortitude gave way, and she hurst 
into a fit of sobbing. Blake put bis arms round her. “ Don’t 
cry,” he said, “you are safe now.” The sight seemed to 
madden Trant. He sprang towards them, his revolver up- 
raised. In a moment Blake had covered him with the muz- 
zle of his own pistol. There was a shot. Elsie never rightly 
knew what had happened. When the smoke cleared she saw 
that the two men were grappling, and that the revolvers lay 
upon the ground. 

“You villain!” she heard Blake say, “couldn’t you play 
square ? ” 

It was as though a demon possessed Blake. Of the two 
he was of the slighter build, hut he seemed to have the 
strength of a giant, as he flung his adversary from him. 

Trant reeled backwards, and fell, his head striking heav- 
ily against one of the stone props of the slab table. Blake 
looked at him coolly, raised him, and quickly examined the 


THE ^^CRATEW^ PRISON. 


323 


spot of blood on his temple, then laid him back and turned 
to Elsie. 

“■You have killed him ! ” she cried. 

‘‘ No,” he answered, ‘‘ he is stunned. It is nothing. She- 
han will look after him. Come with me out of this accursed 
place,” he said. 

He took her hand, and she let him lead her as though she 
had been a child. 

They went through the dark passage of the cave, and 
then once again she stood on the plateau beside the Baro- 
lin rock. Blake had not spoken a word, but he had 
watched each step with the utmost solicitude, and each time 
she had looked towards him she had seen, when the dim- 
ness allowed, that his eyes were upon her. He took her to 
a ledge of rock, and asked her if she would rest there for a 
few minutes. 

' “Do you feel able to walk as far as the Fall ?” he said. 
“ It would perhaps be safei* to let Shehan lead Abates. After 
that you can mount, and I know a fairly good track through 
the scrub.” 

“Yes,” she said, “ I am quite strong, and I shall be glad 
to w^alk.” 

“ Then I will go back to the cave and see that all is right, 
and in what state Trant is. Do you mind waiting here ? 
You will be quite safe.” 

“I know that. I will wait.” 

He left her. All that she could feel then was joy that 
she had again seen him, that he was near, that he had 
promised to take care of her. She waited for some time, 
and it did not seem long. She knew that it was some 
time because of the lengthening shadows. At last he 
came, but Shehan w’as not with him, and he himself led 
^ ; Abatos. 

“ I was obliged to leave Shehan,” he explained. “ Perhaps 
^ it is as well. Trant had only just become conscious. He is 
S not really hurt, but I did not like him to be alone. I have 
Jack Nutty here.” 

Blake gave again thalf peculiar “Coo-ee” which Elsie 


324 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


remembered. In a few moments the half-caste appeared. 
He showed his white teeth as he made an impish salute 
to Elsie, and took Abatos’s rein from his master, leading 
him round the ledge, by a path which might have fright- 
ened any animal not accustomed to it. Elsie and Blake 
were alone. 

He came close and stood looking at her with a curious 
solemn gaze in which there was an infinite regret. It stirred 
the girl to her heart’s core. Involuntarily she put out her 
hands to him. He took them. 

“What,” he said, “you don’t turn away from me ? You 
don’t hate me ? ” 

“ No,” she said. And then her voice broke in a sob. “ Oh, 
tell me what it means,” she cried; “I can bear anything 
— if only you will make me understand,” 

“Yes, I will make you understand,” he answered. “I 
said that I would on the day before you were married. I 
shall not wait for that. Sit here.” 

He led her to a ledge of rock out of sight of the entrance 
to the cave, and then placed himself with his back against 
the precipice and began. 

“ I have ruined my life,” he said. “ I began to ruin it 
when I was a very young man in the army, and got mixed 
up with a Fenian Society — I need not tell you now in what 
way; You may have heard from Lord Waveryng, who 
has recognized me, that the Blakes of Coola are a wild set. 
Catholics, and ardent Nationalists ; the very stuff of which 
a Fenian is made. You may have heard, too, of Boyle 
O’Reilly, who was tried and sentenced for inciting his regi- 
ment to revolt, and finally sent to Western Australia, from 
which he got away to America. My offence was the same, 
but I was not tried. I had information of my projected ar- 
rest, and acting under orders I escaped. The whole thing 
was very cleverly arranged. I was seen to fall over a cliff. 
The man with me went for help. When he came back my 
body was not to be found, and I was supposed to have been 
washed out to sea. I am a good swimmer, and a boat was 
in waiting which took me to a hiding-place on the coast; 


THE CRATERS’ PRISON. 


325 


and after a bit Trant joined me. Did I tell you that he was 
a private in my regiment, and a member of the same secret 
society, sworn to obey orders, as I was ? We spent some 
wild wandering years. W e both, as you know, speak French, 
and we enlisted in an Algerian corps. That didn’t last long. 
The taste for brigandage started in the desert. The adven- 
turous life suited me. There are times when a mad thirst 
for excitement seizes me, works me to frenzy. At these 
I times I am mad. It’s a taint in the Blake blood. It must 
have an outlet, or I should be in a lunatic asylum. You 
^ may take that as one excuse for me. The other is that I am 
a patriot to the depth of my heart, and that I am sworn to 
• work for my country’s freedom. I have robbed — not for 
greed of gain, but for Ireland.” 

“ Ah ! ” Elsie drew a panting breath of relief. 

“ What did I care for mere existence ! ” he went on. “ I 
tell you that I know no more intense joy than the thrilling 
V sense of carrying one’s life in one’s hand. If I were taken 
I should kill myself. I couldn’t live the tame round of the 
ordinary English soldier in time of peace. I was about 
twenty when I became subject to these I'ecurring fits of ex- 
citement — madness, if you like to call them so. I know 
when they are coming on, and I find vent for them in some 
desperate adventure — a wild ride, a bushranging escapade — 
1^. Abates and I understand each other. We’ve thrilled to- 
I gether on the moonlight nights as we have galloped along, 
I’ with the gum trees flying past and the black bunyas closing 
I us within walls of gloom, only the moonbeams shining 
» through the rifts on the track, when we have ridden 
S for our lives thrdugh gorges and scrub to the shelter of 
this cave. You shudder. Yes, it is horrible, I suppose, 
for a woman to think of the man she loves as a common 
! thief.” 

“ You are not that ! ” she exclaimed. “ But it is horrible ; 
oh! it is horrible.” 

“Well,’’ he said, “ now you understand why, much as I 
loved you, I could not ask you to link your lot with such a 
lot as mine.” 


326 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ You loved me,” she repeated, as if the assurance brought 
her comfort. 

“You knew it,” he cried. “Did I not tell you so the 
night of the corroboree ? I told you that I loved you when 
you were bound to another man — I waited for that ; so that 
there might be no faintest glimmer of hope for me ; no pos- 
sibility of temx^tation.” 

“ For either of us,” she added, deliberately. 

“ Elsie,” he exclaimed, “ it is not possible that you can 
love me now that you know everything ? ” 

She was silent for a few moments. When she spoke it 
was in a changed tone. 

“ Tell me how it was that you became Moonlight.” 

“ By an accident ; the discovery of this place. Some 
good people say that there is no such thing as fate. Do you 
believe them ? One would find it hard to think that a be- 
neficent Providence led me here. It was one of those 
strange chances which seemed almost an impossibility. 
Why should I, of all people in the world, have stumbled 
upon this inaccessible spot ? ” 

“ How was it ? ” 

“We were travelling overland to Leichardt’s Town. I 
had heard of this wild bit of country, and of the reports of 
gold, and Trant had fallen in with Pompo, who agreed to 
pilot us. I must tell you that Trant has an extraordinary 
influence over Pompo. He can hypnotize a little, and used 
to be fond of trying it with the Kabyles. He tried it on 
Pompo, who firmly believes that Trant is Debil-debil incar- 
nate. Perhaps that has shaken his belief in the Blacks’ 
Debil-debil, and reconciled him to our invasion of the sacred 
Bora grounds.” 

Blake laughed. Elsie laughed too, but so drearily. 
Neither spoke for a few moments. He was watching her 
intently. “You have had a bad time,” he said abruptly. 
“ You are much thinner, and you are terribly pale ; and 
your face is so sad, so unlike the face of that bright, beauti- 
ful, unconscious Elsie whom I met at the creek-side not so 
many months ago. You have suffered.” 


THE ^^CRATEH^’' PRISOX. 


327 


“ Yes, I have suffered,” she said, in a low voice ; “ horri- 
bly.” 

“ And it is I who have done this. I who have ruined 
your happiness and brought into your life tragedy and 
crime. My curse is upon you as it has been on all women 
who have ever cared for me.” 

“ There have been women then who cared for you, and 
who have suffered as I have suffered ? ” 

“ Perhaps more,” he answered gloomily. “You, at least, 
have the satisfaction of knowing — if it is a satisfaction — 
that what you suffer I suffer ten thousand fold, that I love 
you as I have never loved any other woman.” 

“ Ah ! ” she interrupted, with a little cry of pain. “ The 
other women. There was surely one, there must have been, 
whom you loved.” 

“ There was one,” he answered gravely,. “ who risked 
much for my sake, and to whom I was bound by every tie 
of honour. It was in the East. Some day, if ever we are 
together — and that is not likely — I will tell you the whole 
story ; I cannot now, I am ashamed to think of what she 
sacrificed for me, and how little I deserved it— how little 
real love I gave in return. She is dead. It humiliates me 
to remember the light way in which I played with love, in 
other episodes — never mind them. If you were to be my 
wife you should have the whole record ; and it is not a 
stainless one ; but there is no woman nor the memory of 
one who should stand between you and me.” 

She put out her hand to him and he kissed it very ten- 
derly, but his manner was curiously self-contained. She 
could see that he was holding himself under restraint. 

“Come, Elsie,” he said. “I have made my fate, and re- 
gret will not undo it. All that I can do for you is to remove 
myself from your life, and that I will do. Now I am going 
to take you back to your sister. We have a long, rough ride, 
and we must manage it as best we can.” 

He led her along the cliff edge. She walked as in a 
dream. Down below lay the still dark lagoon, and opposite, 
the shelving quicksands. Blake did not take her by quite 


328 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


the same road as that by which she had come with Trant. 
She saw when they had g-ot into the rocky gallery which 
she and Trant had entered by the hole in the precipice that 
in several places there were deep clefts and chasms going as 
it were into the heart of the mountain, and scarcely notice- 
able in the dimness. It was into one of these fissures that 
Blake led her, and she now perceived that this was an open- 
ing into the outer world almost more closely hidden than 
the one by which she had entered — a naiTow winding pas- 
sage twisting round abutting boulders, but practicable for a 
well-trained horse, and no doubt the entrance which the 
bushrangers had used. It opened into a little clear space, 
partly girt with rocks, and partly hemmed in by the bunya 
scrub, where Elsie saw a rough track had been cut. 

The half-caste was waiting here holding the bridles of 
two horses, while a third was tethered to a sapling close by. 
One of those he held she recognized as Abatos; the other 
was the animal she had ridden at the picnic. 

“I brought the Outlaw, as you see,” said Blake; “but I 
couldn’t manage a side saddle. I know", however, that you 
are a good horsewoman, and I think we might arrange some- 
thing in the shape of a pommel.” 

He undid a sort of valise, strapped on to the dees of the 
saddle in fashion to serve as a safeguard in the case of a 
buckjumper, and doubling and re-strapping it, made a toler- 
able imitation of a single pommel. He lifted Elsie, and gave 
her the reins, then mounted himself, and they followed Jack 
Nutty, who on the third horse disappeared into the bunya 
scrub. 

The track would have been absolutely undiscoverable to 
one who did not know it. No trees had been felled ; only 
the spreading branches had been cut so as to allow the pas- 
sage of horsemen in single file. The black bunyas rose 
dense on either side, forbidding prickly pyramids so close 
together as to lose the effect of sombre grandeur they might 
otherwise have had. At the distance of a yard or two there 
would be no sign of the track if it had been possible even to 
penetrate a yard or two. No wonder, Elsie thought, the 


THE CRATER'^ PRISON. 


329 


busbrang-ers’ hiding-place had not been discovered by the 
police. 

Blake held back the branches for her, keeping close and 
riding with his head turned so as to watch how she got on. 
It was hard riding. Here and there the track crossed a gal- 
ley, and there were rocks strewn among the trees. In some 
places, where the forest was less dense, the horse trod on 
slippery stone, made more slippery still by the creepers with 
which it was partially overgrown. Blake exhorted her to 
keep the Outlaw up, and mourned the omission of a leading 
rein. It was now dark, but Jack Nutty’s white shirt v/as 
like a guiding flag ahead. There was something weird and 
unnatural in that black forest with its funereal foliage and 
straight stems and grotesque pendant bunya cones. The 
stillness was oppressive — only the tramping of their horses’ 
feet and stirring of the dead husks of fallen nuts, no sound 
of bird or beast except occasionally the distant howl of a 
dingo, or the near thud of an opossum, or stealthy move- 
ment of a wallaby. Elsie felt faint, dazed, and weary, and 
yet she longed passionately that the journey might never 
end. She longed for open country, where she might ride 
by Blake’s side and where talk would be possible. She had 
so much to ask, so much to loiow. Perhaps this was the last 
time on which she should ever see him in this world. There 
seemed to her something tragic, strange, and repressed in his 
air. When night came he dismounted, and brought a little 
lantern which he had lighted, and fastened it to the side of 
her saddle, so that it shed a faint weird light on the bunya 
trunks and the broken ground. 

“We shall soon be out of the scrub,” he said. “ Are you 
very tired, Elsie ? ” 

“Yes,” she answered, and there was a sob in her voice. 
“ But I don’t mind anything if only you are safe and we are 
together.” 

He bent passionately down and kissed her foot. “ Oh, 
my love ! ” he cried, and left her abruptly and remounted. 

Tears rained from Elsie’s eyes. A sense of utter desola- 
tion overpowered her. She let the reins fall loosely. And 


330 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


just then the Outlaw slipped, one of his forefeet became en- 
tangled, and before Elsie had time to collect herself the horse 
and she were on the ground. 

Blake had sprung to her in an instant. She was unhurt. 
But the horse floundered. When they got him on his feet 
it was found that he was lame. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 

“ THE WORLD MAY END TO-NIGHT ! ” 

The black boy’s horse was restive, and had never carried 
a lady. There was nothing for it but that Elsie should be 
placed on Abatos in front of Blake. 

The girl’s heart throbbed with a secret and guilty joy as 
he lifted her up and held her close to him, keeping her firm 
on the saddle. Abatos seemed almost to relish the burden, 
so springily did he step forth. They had nearly reached the 
border of the scrub when the accident happened. Before 
long there was a breath of wind, the trees widened, and 
presently they were in the open again, at a point somewhat 
below that of the camp from which they had started for the 
Falls. The great mountains rose in their solemn grandeur, 
and the outline of ridge and gully became distinct. 

What a night it was, so still but for that faint breeze 
which made a mysterious murmur in the gum-trees ; the 
stars glittering and the moon showing a pale milky radi- 
ance. There were more sounds here ; the dingoes w^ere 
nearer and more distinct in the river-bed, and by the lagoons 
there was the noise of wild duck swishing the reeds, and 
of the sw^eet plaintive cry of the. curlew echoed from the 
swamps. No need now for Jack Nutty’s pilotage. Blake 
touched Abatos with the spur, leaving the black boy with 
Elsie’s lame horse far behind. They had reached a flat, one 
of those level tracts by the creek bank, and Abatos flew over 
it as lightly as a bird. Blake held Elsie closer ; her head 


THE WORLD MAY END TO-NIGHT! 


331 


was against his shoulder, her heart beating with his ; she 
could hear his breath come and go quickly. 

“ Who knows that the world may end to-night ? ” he 
w^hispered. “ Let us be happy, Elsie, for once ; for the last 
and only time.” 

And holding her so, as they sped along he made many 
strange confidences. He told her of his wild moods of ex- 
citement, during which he was scarcely conscious of any- 
thing except the overmastering need of some engrossing 
action ; told her of how he had embarked on his reckless 
career, of the discovery and planning of their hiding-place, 
of the extraordinary success which had attended the first of 
the Moonlight escapades, of the manner in which he had 
procured his armour, and of how he had first worn it in the 
desert, of the woman who had followed him in the East, of 
his curious alliance with Trant, unbroken in harmony till 
Elsie had come between them, of their joint devotion to the 
cause of Ireland, of the fund to which their unholy gains 
were mostly devoted, and the secret society to which they 
owed their allegiance. “ Trant has feathered his nest, and 
so has Sam Shehan, probably,” Blake said ; “ but I have 
laid by nothing, Elsie, and so far my hands are free from 
the spending of ill-gotten gold.” 

It seemed to Elsie like some wonderful tale of romance. 
He described the fascination of the double life, the piquancy 
of dramatic contrast between the outlaw and the lawmaker 
— Blake, the Colonial Secretary ; and Blake, the bushranger. 
He told her of his gallops through the gorges and the 
labyrinth of scrub in which he had worked off the fever of 
his blood, of the mad feats of courage ; the fights with the 
gold escort ; the dashes back to their mountain hiding-place 
and return to decorous existence again. ‘‘And oddly 
enough, Elsie,” he said, “ I don’t regret what I did except 
for you and for one other thing, which may perhaps seem 
to you an absurd distinction in morals, that is the robbery 
of Lady Waveryng’s diamonds. I suppose that ethically 
speaking there is not much difference between robbing a 
gold escort or a bank or even Peter Duncan, the miser mil- 
23 


332 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


lionaire, and stealing the diamonds of a person who can 
well afford to lose them, and whose family have for genera- 
tions been the oppressors of Ireland ; hut it is the truth that 
I yielded very reluctantly in that business, and that I would 
give my right hand to be able to return Lady Waveryng her 
diamonds.” 

“ Cannot that be done ? ” Elsie asked. 

“ I am afraid not. Trant took them to Sydney, and put 
them, or such part as he thought fit, in the hands of our 
agent there, who would take means to transmit them to 
their destination. I have no doubt, as I said, that Trant 
feathered his own nest well. I was too sick and disgusted 
with. the whole affair to care once the thing was done. 
That’s the one act in Moonlight’s career which seems some- 
how a blot on my honour. The gold was earth’s bounty, 
and it is only fair that some of it should go to redress Ire- 
land’s^ wrongs ; and Peter Duncan had been notoriously a 
screw to the Irish settler, and was an avowed hater of the 
Irish. He deserved to be bled. Slaney deserved it too, but 
Slaney was true to his word. He had me in his grip and 
forebore. Oh, Elsie, do you know that I never enjoyed 
anything more in my life than that walking into the bank 
with the almost certainty of being arrested. It was a throw 
of the dice, liberty the stake.” 

And then he told her of how his love for her had grown 
and grown ; how at first he had begun his flirtation, believ- 
ing her to be heartless and deserving of no quarter, and 
how he had gradually become caught in her toils, and had 
struggled against her influence, at first from mere pride, 
and later out of love and consideration for her. “Till I 
knew that you were securely pledged to Frank Hallett, and 
that night I let myself go,” he said. “ I had let myself go 
once before, but I wanted you to believe that that was only 
to show my mastery.” 

“ And how is it to end? ” she said suddenly. 

“ To end ! ” he rei)eated. “ Moonlight’s race is run. 
There will never be another Moonlight robbery in Leich- 
ardt’s Land. Years and years hence the cave will be discov- 


THE WORLB MAY END TO-NIGHT! 


333 


ered, and people will wonder who used it. Everything is 
settled. Trant goes to Europe next mail.” 

‘‘ He wanted to take me with him,” said Elsie. 

Blake kissed her in a passionate impulse. “ Oh ! thank 
Heaven that you were saved from that— though I don’t think 
he would have carried his purpose, my dear; you have too 
much pluck. You would have got away from him some- 
how.” . 

“Yes,” said Elsie. “I should have got away. I had 
made up my mind. I resolved that I would appear to yield, 
and that if the worst came to the worst I would kill myself 
on my wedding-day. Are you not afraid of him?” she 
asked suddenly. “ Don’t think me conceited, but he must 
have cared for me in a wild, desperate way, to have planned 
and managed all that scheme of carrying me off. I think 
he would stop at nothing. He is dangerous and revenge- 
ful. He is capable of betraying you, for having foiled Sis 
purpose. ’’ 

“You forget,’’ said Blake, “that in betraying me he 
would be betraying himself— not only to the authorities 
here, but, what is far more terrible, to the society, who would 
avenge me. No, my darling, don’t think any more of that. 
Trant will go as he had settled. Sam Shehan wants to try 
ranching in America ; and as for the half-castes, they don’t 
count.” 

“ And you ? ” asked Elsie. 

“I have not decided anything yet,” he said, “except that 
my career is ended in Leichardt’s Land. I cannot stay here 
and risk exposure as Moonlight. My purpose is accom- 
plished. I have done my country some service. I shall go 
now and fight for it, in another way and another place. 
And do you think,” he added vehemently, “ that after this 
night I could meet you as Frank Hallett’s wife ? ” 

She was silent. She knew that she should never be 
Frank Hallett’s wife, but she would not tell him this now. 

The first grey faintness of early morning was paling the 
stars. They were riding along comparatively easy country, 
skirting the Luya on the road from Barolin Gorge to the 


834 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Dell. In a little time they would have reached the crossing. 
Elsie asked about her sister. Her heart sniote her for hav- 
ing forgotten her. 

“She is at the Dell,” he said. “They buried Lord 
Horace in the graveyard at Tunimba, and Lady Horace and 
the Wa^eryngs went hack to the Dell after the funeral. 
Poor Lady Horace bore her loss with a curious composure. 
She seemed far more distressed and broken by her uncer- 
tainty about you. But she said that she was convinced you 
were not dead. She had an extraordinary intuition that 
Trant had you somewhere in hiding, and she had a belief 
that I should find you. She will not be surprised when she 
sees us this morning. Tell her the truth, Elsie, if you 
please. I mean the truth about your abduction, but keep 
the secret of Moonlight’s lair. But if you take my advice, 
you will let the rest of the world believe that you and Trant 
got lost in the mountains, and that it was only by chance I 
discovered you.” 

“ I will let all the world, including Ina, think so,” Elsie ' 
answered. “My poor Ina ! She will have no heart for 
such things. Tell me,” she went on hesitatingly, “ was 
there any trouble about Mrs. Allanby ? ” 

“ Ah ! I see that you know of poor Horace’s infatuation ; 
it was very patent to other people. I believe there was 
some sort of scene, but that it was kept from your sister. 
Lady Waveryng has behaved like an angel and a woman of 
the world in one. It was extraordinary the way she watched 
over both Mrs. Allanby and Lady Horace, keeping them 
apart, and arranging for Mrs. Allanby to be taken to Leich- 
ardt’s Town without any suspicion. She was like a sister to 
that unfortunate woman, from whom it might be supposed 
that she would naturally shrink as if she were poison. But 
noblesse oblige^'’'’ he added with a laugh. “ Pace tells, after 
all. Lady Waveryng never seemed to think of her own 
grief, and it is certain that she was devoted to Lord 
Horace.” 

“Yes, Lady Waveryng is good,” said Elsie. “ I am glad 
that Ina has got her now.” 


THE WORLD MA Y END TO-NIGHT! 


335 


It was strange, now that the novelty of the situation had 
worn off a little, how' quietly and composedly they talked. 
Blake gave no hope, no hint of union. They might have 
been parting with a scaffold before one of them, for all the 
hoping or planning there was in their talk about the future. 
But notwithstanding the gloom and tragedy which sur- 
rounded their lives — the terrible discovery that had come 
upon her, the utter hopelessness of any happiness before 
them, this early morning on wdiich she rode clasped in his 
arms seemed the opening of a new life for Elsie. Her 
whole being was filled with a curious calm certainty. She 
knew the worst. She knew his crime, she knew the bar 
between them. But she knew also that he loved her su- 
premely, she knew that in life or in death she must belong 
to this man and no other. Her mind w^as made up, her 
course was clear. 

The east was aglow when they reached the crossing, and 
the birds had begun to twitter, and the cockatoos to chatter. 
It was a strange, wonderful world, bathed in dew and suf- 
fused with the radiance of sunrise. Blake dismounted. He 
had reluctantly unfolded his arms from Elsie’s form. Their 
kiss had a great solemnity, as was fitting after this most sad 
yet sweetest night in the lives of either. Blake settled 
Elsie on the saddle and walked beside her, holding the rein. 
Abates was very quiet, and as if in sympathy rubbed his 
sleek beautiful head against his master’s shoulder. Elsie 
stooped and kissed the creature’s shining mane. “Dear 
Abates ! ” she said. “ Do you remembei’,” she added, turning 
to Blake, “how I once wished that Moonlight might carry 
me off on Abates ? I have had my wish.” 

“ Not quite,” he answered. “ I am bringing you home. 
You don’t know the mad longing that seized me last night 
as we rode together — the longing that it might be to some 
far-off place, w^here we should be together to our lives’ end.” 

“ Why did you not take me ? ” she murmured. 

“ Because I love you, Elsie, too well to sacrifice your life 
to mine.” 

“ And if I asked you to take me ? ” she said. 


336 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ If you asked me I should say No — I should say, ‘ Go and 
marry the man who is more worthy of you than I.’ ” 

“ And if I told you that I could never marry that man — 
never, never ; that I should feel it a crime to marry him 
when my heart and soul belonged to you ? ” 

“ Then I would say, ‘ Go back, Elsie, and wait a year, two 
years, till you are sure of yourself — till I have made a new 
life and a new home away from the shadow of old sin, and 
sorrow, and disgrace,’ I should say, ‘Give yourself the 
chance of repenting ’ ” 

“ And if I gave myself the chance, and if I did not re- 
pent, but longed more ardently than now that I might make 
your happiness as you would niake mine, what then ? ” 

“ Then I would take you in my arms, and bid you never 
leave them more.” 

They crossed the river silently, and he led her to the 
house. No one was stirring. He lifted her down at the log 
steps of the verandah. A kangaroo hound barked, and 
presently a sleepy Islander came slouching out of the back 
premises. Blake took Elsie’s hand. 

“I will leave you now and ride hack to Barolin. I am 
to he there for a week, making final arrangements. If you 
wish to communicate with me, that address would find me 
at once. But we part, Elsie, for ever.” 

“ Do we part ? ” she erred, with a wild, half tearful laugh. 
“ I will write to you. We shall see.” 

“ Good-bye,” he said, afraid of her weakness, teanng 
himself away lest his presence should influence her against 
what was best for her future ; “ Good-bye, my dear love. 
God bless and keep you.” 

He mounted Abatos and rode away. 

Elsie went straight to Ina’s room. Ina was wide awake. 
It had not occurred to Elsie that her unexpected appearance 
might give her sister a shock which might be hurtful. Ina 
gazed at her at first as though she were a ghost. Poor Ina 
had the look of one who had become used lately to seeing 
ghosts. She said not one word, did not utter a cry. 

“ Ina,” said Elsie, going to the bed and taking the young 


THE WORLD MAY END TO-NIGHT! 


337 


widow in her arms. “ Oh, my poor Ina ! my darling Ina ! 
I have come back again. I am quite safe. I have come back 
to be with you in your trouble.” 

“ I knew that you were not dead,” Ina said, in an odd 
dulled voice. “ I knew that God would not be so cruel as to 
take you from me. I knew that you would have come to 
me if you had been dead. Horace has come to me often. 
We have talked together. He has told me — we have for- 
given each other everything.” 

“Oh! my dearest Ina, he had nothing to forgive 
you.” 

“ You don’t know. Oh ! wasn’t it sad about poor Hor- 
ace ? ” Ina went on quite calmly. “ Mr. Blake has told 
you, I suppose, Elsie, all that has happened.” 

“Yes, I know all that happened. My heart ached for 
you, Ina.” 

“ But it was much best that God should have taken him,” 
Ina went on. “ Horace feels that now. It was such a 
bright, joyous life, Elsie — that’s what makes it seem so hard, 
and he cared so for the things of life — poor Horace ! 

I But God will remember all that, and we don't know what 
! the other life is like, dear. I think it must be like this one, 
j only without the sin. Horace was taken away just in time 
^ to save him from sin. I told her that. I told her I was 
glad; and I think she understood. Poor woman, I was sorry 
i for her. It was harder for her than for me.” 

Elsie listened in silent wonder. It seemed a relief to Ina 
to go on. 

“Yes, it was much best so. It wasn’t her fault, and it 
wasn’t his. If I< had loved him he might have cared for 
me. That was the wrong, from the beginning. He had a 
loving nature, poor Horace. People cannot help caring for 
one person more than for another, Elsie. They ought not 
- to be judged hardly. The sin is in marrying one person 
'• when you love another. You may think you will get over 
it, but you never do, you never do. It is always a canker in 
the heart.” 

And now Elsie knew what Ina had done for her. She 


338 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. - 


had vag’uely suspected it as a possibility, but she bad not 
allowed herself to think of it as a fact. 

“ Elsie,” Ina said suddenly, “ I have learned a good deal 
while I have been sitting quiet here since Horace died. I 
have been wrong, wrong from the beginning. There is no 
use ever in trying to go against nature and one’s heart. I 
w^as wrong in helping to persuade you to marry Frank. 
You don’t love him ; you love Mr. Blake. And Mr. Blake 
loves you. I saw that very well when he talked to me 
after you w^ere lost. I knew that he would find you. Love 
always finds the way to the one that is dearest. Elsie, don’t 
marry Frank if you love Mr. Blake. Only harm will come 
of it. And God may not be merciful and take him away, 
as he took Horace. But I ought not to tell you now. You 
won’t understand.” And the poor thing burst for the first 
time into hysterical sobbing. 

“ Yes, I do understand,” Elsie said, taking Ina in her arms 
and soothing her like a child. “ I understand everything, 
Ina. I made up my mind last night, dear, last night, when 
we rode together, and it was all so sad and solemn; don’t 
ask me about it. I can never speak of it as it really was to 
anybody in the world. But I knew that he loved me, and 
I knew that I would rather die than be any other man’s 
wife. I have been a vain, thoughtless girl all my life, and 
I never knew what love meant, the sacredness and the 
wonder and mystery of it, and how it is the one thing in 
the world that comes next to God and heaven. But I know 
now, and I know what you feel — that it is a crime, when 
we know, to marry without love. I don’t love Frank ; he is 
no more than a brother to me. And I do love Morres 
Blake with all my soul. We shall never marry, perhaps. 
I don’t know, not for a long time, if ever; but if I do not 
marry him, I will die without having been the wife of 
any other man. I am going to tell Frank that, Ina, as soon 
as I can see him.” 

“ He is here,” said Ina. “ He came very late last night. 
He was worn out. He had been searching for you through 
the scrub and the goi’ges. I told him that Mr. Blake had 


THE WORLD MAY END TO-NIGHT! 


339 


gone to look for you, and it seemed to relieve him. He 
had a feeling like me, that Mr. Blake would find you. But 
oh ! Elsie, I never noticed before how pale you are — how 
different. My dear have you been wandering all this time 
—did you have food to eat ? How did you lose yourself ? 
Where is Mr. Trant ? ” 

“He— he had an accident,” Elsie said. “ Shehan is with 
him. Don’t ask me about him, Ina; try and keep them 
from asking too many questions. Some day I will tell you 
all about it, but not now. You’re not fit for it, nor am I. 
The very thought of it makes me shudder.” 

“Did he lose you on purpose, then?” said Ina. “I 
hated that man. He wanted to marry you, Elsie. He 
loved you in a wrong way. Where were you all this 
time ? ” 

“We were in a cave in the mountains. I was quite safe. 
We lost ourselves. Mr. Trant did not behave badly on the 
whole, Ina. It wasn’t his fault, perhaps. Oh, is nothing 
anybody’s fault ? ” she cried, and became hysterical with 
fatigue and excitement. 

Lady Waveryng came in just at the right time, and for- 
bore, at Ina’s request, to worry Elsie with questions, but, like 
the tender practical lady she was, took Elsie to her room, 
and a bath and hot coffee, and Miss Briggs’ ministra- 
tions, and then when she had seen that Elsie was all right, 
and had said a few reassuring words about Ina, and spoken 
with tears of Horace and her own love and regret for him, 
and intention that Ina should henceforth take his place in 
her heart. Lady Waveryng went to tell her lord the good 
news of Elsie’s return, and to see that Frank Hallett was 
likewise informed. 

Lady Waveryng was the stay of everybody in those days, 
shrewd, practical, dignified, and full of womanly sympathy, 
which she continued to manifest in the course of that miser- 
able episode of Mrs. Allanby. Later on, when the way was 
smoothed for her return to social life, Mrs. Allanby had 
cause to bless “ Em ” Waveryng. 


340 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 

BROKEN OFF. 

Frank Hallett and Elsie met later in the morning*. 
Lady Waveryng had prepared him for the meeting, and 
had told him the story which Ina had related to her of the 
misadventure of Elsie and Trant. This was how Lady 
Waveryng had put the affair. She affected to treat it as the 
most natural thing in the world, that the two should have 
lost themselves in the mountains. The only marvel was, 
she declared, that they had ever been found again. Trant 
had fallen against a rock, and had hurt himself. No doubt 
he had been making heroic efforts to carry Elsie back again. 
This accounted for their having been found quite near the 
Falls. They had taken refuge in a sort of cave. Elsie was 
very well, only terribly shaken in nerves, which could not 
be wondered at. Nor was it surprising that she shuddered 
at the thought of the whole affair, and could not bear to be 
asked about it, and Lady Waveryng concluded by begging 
Frank not to worry her at present with questions. 

Lady Waveryng knew perfectly well that there was 
something behind, and Frank knew that she knew, and at- 
tributed her reserve to the fact of some disclosure of Elsie’s 
feelings in regard to Blake. When he heard that Blake had 
found her, and that the two had ridden together through the 
night, he could well imagine that the pent-up emotion of 
both had found vent. He did not suspect Trant of having 
played a treacherous part. Lady Waveryng did, though it 
is fair to say that her suspicion was not based upon any reve- 
lations of either Elsie or of Ina, who indeed did not know, but 
upon her own notion of probabilities. Lady Waveryng had 
a faint regret that she did not know the exact details of what 
might have furnished a sensational episode for a chapter on 
Australian mountain scenery; and then she shuddered at 
the mere thought of describing in cold blood, for the delecta- 
tion of a curious public, any scene that was connected with 
the tragedy of her brother’s death. She broke down, and 


BROKEN OFF. 


341 


had a fit of unrestrained weeping, which did her good, and 
enabled her to throw herself more sympathetically into poor 
Elsie's difficulties. 

“ My dear,” she said, I see that there is a good deal you 
don’t want to talk about, and it must be horrid for you to 
think of having been three days out in the bush with that 
odious man. But there’s one mercy about the bush : it 
seems to me that nothing matters and nobody minds any- 
thing ; and you see, if you had been cast on a desert island 
with a man, it wouldn’t have been your fault, and this is much 
the same thing ; now don’t trouble to make any explana- 
tions. I’ve told Waveryng not to bother you, and I shall 
tell Mr Hallett the same thing. Ina told me that Mr. Trant 
had an accident, and, of course, poor man, if he sprained his 
ankle, h-e could not be expected to cleave a way for you 
through the precipices.” 

“ It was not his ankle — it was his forehead,” said Elsie, 
blushing deeply, but accepting the pious fraud. 

“ Well, that is worse,” said Lady Waveryng. “I daresay 
he was unconscious.” 

“ No — he — it was not serious ; but he was unconscious,” 
Elsie said incoherently. “ Oh, Lady Waveryng, if you 
would explain a little to Frank. He is so good : he will 
understand how I hate talking about Mr. Trant.” 

“Don’t fret,” said Lady Waveryng, kindly. “I under- 
stand. I will make things as easy as they can be for you. 
Elsie,” she added, kissing the girl in a motherly fashion, 
“ take my advice. If you are going to marry Frank Hallett, 
tell him everything, everything. But ask him for breath- 
ing space. And if you are not going to marry him, don’t be 
in a hurry about marrying anybody else. Give yourself 
and other people a chance to prove themselves. And I want 
to say something to you: Ina is going home with us, for a 
year, or for always, just as she pleases. She is my sister, 
you know, as well as yours. If you want breathing time, 
my dear, come with us, too, and be another sister. You 
will be very welcome at Waveryng, and I will take care 
of you.” 


342 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


Elsie sobbed her thanks and became a little hysterical 
again, and Lady Waveryug made her lie down and drink 
some coffee, and went away to talk to Frank. 

Lady Waveryng managed it all with the most kindly 
tact. She took Elsie into the little room which had been 
poor Lord Horace’s office, and sent Frank to her. There 
they were undisturbed. 

If Frank found Elsie changed into something sadder, 
sweeter, and paler than she had been, she on her side was 
shocked at the ravages anxiety had made in him. He looked 
oppressed, worn out, with the reddened eyelids of one who 
has not slept for several nights. 

“ I was anxious, you know, and I suppose it has told upon 
me a little,” he said clumsily, in answer to her remorseful 
exclamation. “It has been a horrible week one way and 
another. And then we have been out a good deal, the black 
boys and I. I don’t know how it is that we did not find you, 
and that Blake did. We scoured the country about the 
Falls, and the scrub too, as well as we could ; but I knew 
that Trant was too good a bushman to take you there. But 
never mind,” he added, seeing the look of trouble and per- 
plexity on her face. “ I know the whole thing must be pain- 
ful to you. Lady Waveryng told me so, and lam not going 
to bother you now about the details. It doesn’t matter ; 
nothing matters except that you are here safe and well.” 

“ Oh yes, Frank, everything matters. There is something 
I must tell you — the sooner the better — which matters very 
much to you and to me. I’ve been a wicked girl, Frank. I 
have acted cruelly to you. I can never forgive myself, 
never, never.” 

, She leaned over to him as he sat in the office chair by 
Lord Horace’s writing table, his chin resting on his hand, 
his other hand clenched on the table, the starting veins show- 
ing an agitation which his set features concealed. Elsie 
timidly touched this hand. 

“ Oh, Frank,” she said brokenly, “ there is no use in going 
on. It breaks my heart, but I must tell you.” 

He opened his hand and took hers in it. “ Elsie,” he said 


BROKEN OFF. 


343 


hoarsely, “ I think I can guess. I haven’t forgotten the time 
of the corroboree. If it’s anything that happened last night, 
anything to do with Blake, and that you think you ought to 
make a clean breast of, don’t let it weigh upon you as far as 
I am concerned. I trust you wholly, dear ; and I forgive 
you wholly if there’s anything to forgive. I don’t want to 
know. Keep it till — till after we are married — if you still 
wish to marry me.” 

‘‘ Frank, that is just it. There’s no one so noble as you. 
You deserve to have a good wife; you deserve to be loved 
with a woman’s whole heart, and I can’t love you like that. 
I never have. It was wicked of me to let you engage your- 
self to me. It was wicked of me to accept your love.” 

“We settled all that, Elsie, remember. It was my doing. 
I took the risk. I am content with what you give me. I 
am content to wait till you have got over this infatuation, 
for that’s what it is. It’s not your fault.” 

“No, it is not infatuation. It is much more, Frank. 
When I said I would marry you, I didn’t quite know myself. 
I did know that night after the corroboree. I ought to have 
stopped it all then. I can’t marry you, Frank. I should be 
the vilest woman on earth if I manned you now.” 

“Why, Elsie?” 

“ Because I love another man, so that I would die for him ; 
yes, I would die for him, if need were. I love him so that I 
would follow him to the world’s end, if he wanted me.” 

“ Does he want you, Elsie ? ” Frank’s voice was ver^^ 

grim. 

“ No, I cannot tell. I know nothing, except that he loves 
me.” 

“ And you are sure of that now ? ” 

“ As sure as that I live.” 

“ Then,” he said quietly, releasing her hand, “ there is 
nothing more to be said. I don’t blame you, Elsie ; I took 
the risk, and I abide by it. ” 

He turned his head away, and then he got up abruptly. 
She felt that it was to hide the sob that for a moment con- 
vulsed his frame. She got up too, and stood helpless, ago- 


34 ^ 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


nized, her eyes following him with a dumb yearning. He 
turned to her at last. 

‘‘ I don’t blame you,” he repeated. “ I shall never think 
one bitter thought of you ; you will always be to me the 
sweetest, truest, finest of women. But for him,” he added 
fiercely ; “ why did he not know his own mind sooner ? 
Why did he keep you on a string, and wait to declare him- 
self till your wedding day was fixed ? I think he has be- 
haved damnably N 

“ Frank, Frank, don’t say that ! ” She came to him and 
again touched him pleadingly. “ You don’t know all he has 
suft'ered, you don’t know ” 

“ I know that he has treated you ill. And why ? When 
are you to be married ? ” he added coldly. 

“We shall not be married. Oh, Frank, I don’t know, I 
can’t tell you. He is not to blame. It was out of love for 
me that he held back. It is his secret, his and mine.” 

“If you are not going to marry him, I will wait. Ten 
years hence you will find me the same.” 

“ It would be of no use. My mind is clear. Last night, 
in my heart, I gave myself to him for ever and ever; in 
death or in life, in honour or in dishonour, whether he lives 
or dies, or marries me or leaves me, I am his; and I can 
never be any other man’s. I never had much religion, 
Frank, but it seems to me that I have learned at least the 
religion of love. That’s why I never could bear the idea of 
marrying, why I hated anybody to come near me in that 
way — yes, even j^ou, Frank, truly as I cared for you. I 
was meant for him, and for him only.” 

There was a look of exaltation on Elsie’s face which Frank 
had never seen there before. It convinced him more than 
her words that she meant what she said. 

“Frank,” she went on, “if you will forgive me — and I 
know you will — be my brother, and let me be your sister. 
Let us always love each other in that way. Some day, per- 
haps, you may be ” She stopped herself. It seemed dese- 

cration to hint at the secret of the new-made widow. But 
at that moment an intuition came to her that Frank would 


BROKEN OFF. 


345 


marry Ina, and that he would love Ina more truly than 
even he had loved herself. “ Frank,” she said, “ is it to 
be so ? ” 

‘'Yes, if you wish it, Elsie,” he answered, in a choked 
voice. 

She took his hand and kissed it. He gave up his dream 
silently, struggling to hide from her what it cost him. 
Presently he knew that her tears were falling upon his hand. 

“ Don’t cry, Elsie,” he said huskily. ‘‘ I shall get over it. 
If I take it badly just at first, remember that I have loved 
you very much, and that I have wanted you for long. I am 
not going to make it harder for you. I shall ride back to 
Tunirnba now, and when you see me again we shall be as 
you say, brother and sister. Good-bye, my dear ; and Heaven 
bless your choice.” 

He left her without another word. Elsie fiung herself 
upon the chair where he had sat and wept long and bitterly. 
She was not the only one who wept over Prank’s disappoint- 
ment. Ina Gage was crying too, in the solitude of her wid- 
owed chamber; and not for the dead Horace. She knew 
what was Lady Waveryng’s errand, when Em came to her 
door, and asked to speak to her. 

Em’s eyes, she fancied, were red, too. “ He wants to see 
you, to say good-bye. He is going away; he tells me that 
his engagement is broken ofp.” 

“ Broken off ! ” Ina repeated in a dazed sort of way. 
“ And I tried so hard to bring it about ! But oh ! Em, it’s 
best like this.” 

“I suppose it is,” said Lady Waveryng, a little dryly. 

But it's hard not to feel for Frank Hallett. She would be 
safer with him than with Morres Blake.” 

Ina went into the parlour, where Frank, booted and 
spurred, was waiting. 

“ Ina, you know how it is,” he said, without any pre- 
amble. “ She will marry Blake, I suppose, and I can’t be 
surprised since she loves him ; but keep her from doing it 
too soon, for her own sake; not for mine,” he added, hastily. 
“ That’s all over now.” 


346 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Oil, Fi’ank, it has spoiled your life.” 

“ No,” he answered — only wrong-doing can do that. 
There has been no wrong-doing here, either on her side or 
mine. I shall always love her, hut I see now that she could 
never have loved me, and that I couldn’t have made her 
happy. I have felt it lately in a way that has been intensi- 
fying every day. I’ve had the sort of feeling that it couldn’t 
be. It took a great deal to make Elsie love ; but now that 
she does love, it will be for ever.” 

“ Yes,” said Ina ; ‘‘ when one loves like that, it must be 
for ever.” 

“Ina,” he said, suddenly startled by something spiritual- 
ized in her face, “you are suffering, too; and I have been 
so selfishly absorbed in my own anxiety that I have thought 
little of your grief. ” 

“Yes, I am suffering,” she said quietly, “ but not quite in 
the way you think. I am glad that Horace died before he 
had done what all his life would have weighted him with 
sorrow and remorse, The wrong was that I did not love 
him as I ought.” She stopped, and a burning blush over- 
spread her face. 

He saw it, and a strange look came into his own face.' 
She went on hurriedly. 

“ Elsie is right. There is no worse crime, when one knows ; 
and Elsie knows now. I wanted her to marry you, but I am 
glad now that she will not.” 

“ Ina,” Frank said again, “ you won’t let this make 
any difference between us ? We have always been like 
brother and sister, haven’t we ? and we’ll be brother and 
sister still.” 

“ Yes,” said Ina; “ brother and sister.” She gave him her 
hand, and he pressed it in his and went away. 

That night Elsie wrote to Blake a long letter, of which 
only a few lines may be given here. 

“ My love, you won’t misjudge me, and I have no shame 
in what I say to you. Love knows no shame, and after last 
night there can be only truth between us. I am yours, and 


BROKEN OFF. 


347 


yours only, to take or to leave as you shall please. It is for 
you to decide what the future shall be, but whatever it may 
be— even if it were to he disgrace — I am ready to share it 
with you. I am ready to come to you when and where you 
wish, or never to see you again, if that seems better to you. 
I am ready to wait, as you said : a year, or many years, and 
then to come to you and be taken — as you said too— in your 
arms and bidden never to leave you more.” 

His answer came by special black boy two days later. It 
was Jack Nutty who brought it, and Elsie herself, being at 
the Crossing, took the letter, and asked him the Barolin 
news. 

Jack Nutty grinned. “ You no tell, me no tell about that 
fellow cave,” he said. “ Me understand all right. Massa 
Blake been tell me. Ba’al me see Mr. Trant. Mine think 
it that fellow go off like it Sydney and ba’al come back.” 

Elsie drew a breath of relief. “ Then he has not been at 
the Gorge ? ” 

“ Ba’al mine see him. Mr. Blake he manage all about 
muster by himself. In one week Barolin Gorge belong to 
other fellow — no more Blake and Trant — no more Moon- 
light.” 

‘‘ Are you sorry. Jack ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ Me sorry ; cobbon sorry,” said the black, but mine think 
it police very soon find out Moonlight, best stop in time. No 
hanging now, suppose that fellow find out: but suppose 
policeman shot, then hang; ba’al mine like that. . . . You 
been see Pompo ? ” he asked suddenly. 

“ No,” answered Elsie. 

“Mine frightened about Pompo. That fellow do every- 
thing Trant tell him. Suppose Trant tell him, you go show 
policeman where Moonlight sit down. Pompo no care ; he 
go. Trant out of the country, all safe. Policeman catch 
all the rest.” 

“Oh, no, Jack,” said Elsie. “What for Mr. Trant do 
that ? No fear ! ” 

“ Ba’al mine know,” said the black, shaking his head. 

23 


348 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Traiit he got plenty money; he go big steamer to Amer- 
ica; he quite safe, and Trant he no like Mr. Blake; he want 
to be revenged.” 

Elsie, remembering Blake’s assurance, again told him 
that there was no fear. 

But she herself had a qualm of terror. Fate was always 
like that— fate would step in and spoil everything, now that 
they were going to he happy. She had read Blake’s letter. 
She was happy. It was a very long letter, to be read and 
re-read ; it told her of his plans for a new life, and the burden 
of it was this : “ Be it as you will, love. I am yours and 
you are mine.” 

She wrote a few lines on a leaf torn from her pocket- 
book, and bade Jack Nutty ride hack with it to his master. 
It was a wild entreaty to him to hasten and wind up every- 
thing, to sell Barolin, resign his appointment, and go and 
make a home where she could join him as soon as might be. 
She told him that she would write further by post, that he 
must come and see her, and that then they would settle 
everything. 

When she got back to the Humpey she found Lord and 
Lady Waveryng surrounded with letters and newspapers. 
Braile the jDostman had arrived, and it was English mail 
day. 

Lord Waveryng looked excited. “ They’ve got a clue to 
the diamonds,” he said ; a fellow in Sydney has been dis- 
posing of the cross. What fools they were to risk that 
piece, which could be identified anywhere ! However, I 
hope it means that we shall get the lot, or part anyhow, back 
again.” 

Elsie’s heart stopped beating. “ Is anything known,” she 
asked, “of the person who first sold the cross ? ” 

“ It seems not,” said Lord Waveryng; “ there the thread 
breaks. But it’s something to have got the clue as far as it 
goes. One can only hope that the New South Wales police 
department may prove itself a little more effectual than that 
which is presided over by our friend the Colonial Secretary 
here. I understand that Blake is at Barolin, and I think 


BROKEN OFF. 


349 


that I shall ride over and see him about this. I have some- 
thing- else to tell him.” Lord Waveryng added solemnly, 
“ A piece of news the mail has brought, which he ought to 
know without delay.” 

“ What is that ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ I don’t know whether I ought to tell you,” said Lord 
Waveryng, hesitatingly. “It is Blake’s own business.” 

“ I think you may tell her,” put in Lady Waveryng. 
“ I fancy that Mr. Blake’s business is Elsie’s business, too.” 

“ I am going to marry Mr. Blake, some time,” said Elsie 
calmly, with a curious pride. 

“ So I imagined.” 

“Well, it’s this,” said Lord Waveryng. “ Lord Coola is 
dead, and Morres Blake is now Baron Coola.” 

Oh, the Fates ! Why should the threads be knotted to 
make it easier work for her of the shears ! This was Elsie’s 
first thought. A superstitious terror seized her. She could 
not speak; she could only listen tremblingly while they 
discussed the old blight that had fallen on his youth. Ina 
came in, and a horse was ordered for Lord Waveryng, and 
one of the black boys to accompany him to Barolin Gorge. 

She waited anxiously for Lord Waveryng’s return. He 
came back late,^nd reported of Blake as being deeply en- 
gaged in the transfer of Barolin Gorge to its new purchaser. 
Blake’s manner appeared to have impressed Lord Waveryng 
curiously. “He was quite unemotional,” Lord Waveryng 
said; “ seemed taken aback, shocked, and sorry at the news 
of his brother’s death, but wasn’t in the least excited as to 
its bearing upon, his own fortunes. He wouldn’t tell me 
what he thought of doing ; said he should probably leave 
Australia, but said he had as yet given no hint of his inten- 
tion to his colleagues. I can’t make him out. Somehow he 
gave me the idea of a man who is contemplating some great 
change in his life, and is quite indifferent to all other con- 
cerns. Or perhaps he is so tremendously in love that he 
has no thought for anything else.” 


350 


0 UTLA W AND LA W3[A KER. 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

“the last baron coola.” 

Nearly a week later Elsie was sitting on her cairn by 
the Crossing. She had got into the way latterly of taking 
up this position in the afternoon, perhaps because the place 
had tender associations for her ; perhaps because she was 
always expecting Blake. He was still at Barolin, and had 
written to her again, but he had not yet ridden over to the 
Dell, as in the letter he had promised to do. It w’as getting 
towards sundown when she heard the tramp of a horse’s 
feet— a hurried tramp, as though the rider were in fear or 
distress. The sound did not come from the Barolin road, 
but from that which led to Tunimba. 

Elsie got up and walked to the edge of the creek to see 
Frank Hallett pressing eagerly down the opposite bank. 

He urged his horse across and then up to where she 
stood, then dismounted, his face full of trouble, 

“ Elsie,” he exclaimed, not waiting for her to speak, “ I 
am thankful to have found you here ! You have heard 
nothing ? ” 

“ Nothing,” she repeated. “ What is there to hear ? ” 

“ Bad news for you, my poor Elsie. I thought it might 
have been telegraphed from the Bean-tree. That villain 
Trant, I suppose, has caused Blake to be denounced as Moon- 
light, and Macpherson with the police arrived at Tunimba 
just before I left, on their way to the cave at the Falls.” 

Elsie staggered, and would have fallen but for Frank’s 
protecting arm. 

Be brave,” he said. “ I have come to you that we may 
save him. We will give him warning at Barolin, if he is 
there. If not, tell me where he may be found.” 

“ Hfe is at Barolin,” she said, recovering herself. “ Come, 
I will go with you.” 

“ You ! ” he exclaimed. 

“ Yes. I will be with him wdiatever happens. But we 
will save him. Oh, Frank, we must save him ! ” 


“ THE LAST BARON COOLAT 


351 


She was walking rapidly towards the Humpey, Frank 
leading his horse by her side. As they walked he told her 
breathlessly all he knew. 

It was Pompo who had given the information, and 
offered to lead the police to the cave. Mr. Torbolton would 
not believe that Blake was implicated, but Trant had been 
clever enough to furnish the half-caste with conclusive 
proof, which had made it clear to Captain Macpherson, at 
any rate, that the Outlaw and the Lawmaker were one. 
Trant had either left the colony, or was in secure hiding. 
No trace of him was discoverable. 

Pompo had not betrayed him, but indeed strenuously 
asserted Trant’s innocence. But no one believed him. Cap- 
tain Macpherson, in a state of wild excitement, had arrived 
with his troopers at Tunimba on his way to the cave. There 
had been some little delay about the warrant, which he had 
counted on one of the Halletts signing. Jem was away, 
and Frank had refused to sign, and they had been obliged 
to seek another magistrate. In the meantime, Frank had 
mounted and ridden furiously to the Humpey to take coun- 
sel with Elsie. 

The girl stopped him at a cross-cut. One path led round 
by the stock-yard, the other to the house. She pointed to 
him to take the first. 

“ Look here,” she said, keen and collected, wdth all her 
woman’s wits about her, in the face of danger to the man 
she loved, “you must go to the stock-yard, where I know 
Ina’s horse and one for Lord Waveryng are saddled. He 
and Em were to go for a canter at sunset. Take the horses 
to the Crossing, 'and wait for me. I will slip into the 
house and leave a note, so that Ina may not be fright- 
ened at my being away, and I shall join you before many 
minutes.” 

He did as she bade him. It seemed providential that the 
horses should be in readiness. He had not waited long be- 
fore he saw her light figure flying down the narrow path 
half hidden by gum-trees, which led from the house. No 
one had seen either of them, and Elsie had left a note on 


352 


OUTLAW AND LAWAIAKER. 


lier dressing-table which would re-assure Ina as to her 
safety. 

She had put on her riding skirt, and had a lady’s spur in 
her hand. It was a sudden inspiration which had made her 
snatch it from its peg in the passage. She was panting and 
breathless, but she would not let him wait a moment. He 
lifted her on her horse, and presently they were cantering 
fast along the track to the Gorge. 

It was not more than eight miles, and the country was 
fairly level. The sun had only just set as they reached 
the Barolin slip rails, and as good luck had it. Jack Nutty, 
the half-caste, mounted on a spirited young horse, was riding 
down towards them. On the way Elsie had told Frank all 
that she knew and might tell of Blake’s career, and the 
young man’s heart was less vindictive towards his rival 
and more sympathetic with the woman he loved, and who, 
in her turn, loved so unwisely. The whole story now was 
clear to him, the secret of the double life and of the bush- 
rangers’ hiding-place. 

They stopped Jack Nutty and asked for news of his 
master. At first the half-caste would give only evasive 
replies. Blake was not in the house ; he was out on the 
run. Then, when Elsie told him wildly of his master’s peril, 
Jack Nutty, all alert, turned his horse’s head towards 
Mount Luya. “ Massa sit down along a cave,’’ he cried, 
and galloped thitherward, leaving Elsie and Hallett to 
follow. 

They knew now that the danger was imminent. It was a 
race between the troopers and themselves. Blake’s liberty, 
perhaps his life, depended on which should reach the Falls 
first. 

Oh, for Abatos, trained, sure-footed, and swift. Fortu- 
nately, Ina Gage’s horse and that which Lord Horace had 
used to ride, and which had been saddled for Lord Wa- 
veryng, were both half thoroughbreds, and creatures of 
pace and mettle. Hallett was, of course, a magnificent bush- 
rider, and Elsie a fearless horsewoman. They dashed on, 
never slacking, though the country grew wilder, follow- 


“ THE LAST BARON COOLA: 


353 


ing close on Jack Nutty, who, uttering every now and 
then excited cries in the native language, rode as though 
possessed. 

On among thickening gum-trees, over fallen logs, 
through dense prickly scrub, up and down gorges, and now 
to where the bunyas showed their black serrated wall 
against the spurs of Mount Luya. The moon had come 
out — that same moon which had faintly lighted the Falls 
expedition, and the ride that had been paradise to Elsie, as 
she had lain in her lover’s arms. This ride seemed a night- 
mare, the flying trees evil demons, the night noises impish 
jibes, and Mount Luya and the Burrum Peaks towering 
ahead, till they reached the scrub, like gigantic fiends of 
menace. Once they thought they heard the sound of 
voices — it was only the cry of the native bear ; and the 
tramp they fancied to be pursuing horses was that of 
startled beasts on a cattle camp by the border of the scrub. 
Jack Nutty got down, and carefully examined the ground 
for a trail, and put his ear to the earth, rising with a grim 
smile of satisfaction. “Ba’al, that fellow come yet,” he 
said ; and again they darted on into the labyrinthine 
depths of the scrub. Elsie’s skirts were torn, her face was 
bleeding where the bunya spikes had scratched her, every 
limb of her body was tense with the strain, she was scarcely 
conscious of herself, her whole being seemed devoured with 
the frenzied eagerness to arrive in time. She remembered 
the Outlaw’s downfall, and kept up her horse’s head. The 
animal’s side was streaming beneath her habit, where she 
had struck it with the spur. They were a long time in the 
scrub, and every moment was an agony, lest in the dark- 
ness and difficulty of the way one of the horses should slip 
or start back frightened, so that precious time would be lost. 

But at last, at last ! The beams of moonlight that struck 
down through the roofing branches became broader, and 
showed ahead a clear luminous open space. It was the 
clear patch behind the precipice to which Blake had led her 
through the fissure, the place where Jack Nutty had been 
in waiting with Abatos. 


354 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


And Abates was there now, testifying to his master’s 
vicinity. Blake had evidently left him tethered, while he 
had made his way on foot to the cave. The animal was 
tied securely to a gum-tree, and whinnied at sight of Jack 
Nutty. The half-caste threw himself from his horse and 
seized the bridles of Elsie’s and Hallett’s horses. Frank 
lifted Elsie down, and the girl fell almost fainting in his 
arms. But she rallied herself quickly, and drank eagerly 
from the flask of diluted brandy, which he held to her lips. 
The draught gave her new strength. 

“Quick !” she cried. “I know the way. What are we 
to do with the horses ? They must not stop here.” 

“ Mine plant that fellow,” said Jack Nutty — “ little way — 
behind that fellow rock — in the scrub.” He pointed to an 
abutting spur up to which the bunyas grew close, and as 
he did so began to undo Abatos’ bridle. “Ba’al me go 
along a you,” he went on. “ Mine stop here — keep very 
quiet — look after horses. Suppose policeman come me 
ready.” 

Elsie scarcely waited to hear him. She could trust her- 
self to And the way. Once through the fissure it was easy. 
She led Hallett after her, and in a moment they were lost 
in the bowels, as it seemed, of the mountain. Gropingly 
they felt their way along the gallery, and by and by 
emerged again into the moonlight, and stood on the ledge 
leading round to the Barolin rock. 

They walked on, skirting the precipice. Hallett could 
hardly repress an exclamation of astonishment at the lonely 
grandeur of the scene, and the almost entire inaccessibility 
of the spot. “No wonder Maepherson couldn’t track them ! ” 
he said to himself. 

The great rock of the human head looked strangely weird 
in the moonlight, with its withes of grey moss hanging like 
hair, and its majestic rugged outline of feature. Again 
Elsie drew him on. They had gone into the mountain once 
more, and here was the gallery where she had been chloro- 
formed. She made Frank light a match, and they felt for 
the stone doorway. The stone lay back. A few steps, and 


“ THE LAST BARON COOLA^ 


355 


they were in the bushrangers’ cave. A fat lamp shed a dim 
illumination on the rough interior, the rock walls, the slab 
table on its stone supports, the settle, the ration bags heaped in 
a corner. Except for the lamp there was no sign of human 
presence. 

Elsie took up the lamp, and with a knowledge of the cave 
which surprised Frank, who had not fully grasped the cir- 
cumstances of her recent incarceration, flashed it into each 
of the other chambers, and returned to the central cave hav- 
ing found no one. She gave a small “ Coo-ee,” but there 
was no answer. 

“He must be outside in the crater,” she cried. “We 
must look for him there. Oh! to think of this time 
lost!” 

They went out into the great green space enclosed by its 
mountain walls, into which the moon shone with a clear and 
wondrous brilliancy. Frank gazed about him with wonder 
and admiration. He saw the blue waterhole of unfathom- 
able depth, the growing corn, the animals stabled securely 
in their volcanic paddock. It was marvellous to him that 
this place should have existed all his lifetime— countless ages 
before him — under his very eyes as it were, and he had never 
known of it. He made some remark of this kind to Elsie, 
but she paid no heed. 

“ Help me to And him ! ” she cried, in agony. “ Go that 
way, and Iwill go this — and coo-ee, softly — no, it does not 
matter. No one could hear unless they were in the cave 
itself.” 

But her first coo-ee echoing back was answered by a voice 
on the other side, of the crater, and presently she could see 
the fire-tip of a cigar thrown to the earth. Blake advanced, 
not at first certain who his visitors were and prepared for re- 
sistance, his revolver in his hand. 

“ It is I— Elsie,” she cried, “ Elsie and Frank Hallett. We 
have come to w^arn you. The troopers are on your track. 
They may be here now.” 

“Who has betrayed me?” he asked calmly, as he ap- 
proached them. 


356 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


“ Trant,” said Frank. “ Porapo was his instrument. You 
know best what motive he had for revenge.” 

“ It is I who am the cause of it all,” moaned Elsie. “ It 
is I who have ruined you, and made him mad for revenge.” 

“ My poor Elsie ! ” answered Blake, with intense tender- 
ness. “ Say rather that it is I who have ruined you.” 

She caught his hand and passionately kissed it. “ Come,” 
she said, dragging him forward, “ we are going to save 
you, Frank and I ; we have come for that. The horses are 
hidden in the scrub. Only let us get out of the mountain be- 
fore the police come, and all will be well. You have Abates, 
and you will ride for your life over the border, and get off 
into some ship or boat from Myall Heads. I have thought 
it all out as we rode here. You must bribe the cedar-cut- 
ters. And that’s the thing, — have you money ? I had for- 
gotten ” 

“ Yes, I have some money hidden here,” he said, “ plenty. 
That is what I came for to-night.” 

They walked back to the cave, and he went into the inner 
chamber where she had slept, and which she now was certain 
had been his sleeping-place also. She heard a sound of fall- 
ing stone and a scraping of iron, and went in to him. 

“ Oh, quick, quick ! Can I not help you ? ” 

‘‘ I have it,” he answered, and she saw Mm pull out a box 
which had been hidden in a crevice of the rock, and take 
from it a bundle of notes and some gold, which he stowed 
into his breast pocket. 

“ I am ready,’*’ he said. “ But first, Elsie, my darling, tell 
me. whatever happens, that you forgive me for the blight I 
have brought upon you.” 

“ Forgive you ! I love you. I would die for you. I will 
live for you and with you. I love you,” she repeated. “ Is 
not that enough ? But here again I make the vow I have 
made in my heart : I will never belong to another man. If 
they put you in prison I will wait for you to my life’s end. 
If you die I will be faithful to you for eternity.” 

He caught her in his arms and pressed one hurried, pas- 
sionate kiss upon her lips. She tore herself from him, and 


THE LAST BARON COOLA: 


357 


led him on. Frank was before them. He had heard her 
words; he had seen that kiss. Her vow was the knell of his 
last hope. 

They hurried through the gallery, and the further en- 
trance cave, and across the plateau where the rock-lilies 
waved and scented the night air with their fragrance. Then 
suddenly there rang through the night the shot of a pistol; 
and then another. Elsie shrieked in despair. She gazed 
round in the helpless frenzy of an animal trapped with her 
young, and ready to defend them with her blood. On one 
side the unscalable precipice, on the other the slimy depths 
of the waterhole and the treacherous quicksands. And be- 
fore them nearly a quarter of a mile of that ledge path with 
no hope of escape to right or left. 

“ They are upon us,” Blake said quietly. “We can do 
nothing now.” 

Elsie made a frantic movement backwards. 

“ Go into the cave again ; let us put up the stone and 
defy them.” 

“ For what use ? It would mean bloodshed first, and cer- 
tain capture later. No, I haven’t taken any man’s life so 
far. I won’t do it now.” 

“ You are right,” said Hallett. “ Face the inevitable. It 
is better to give yourseK up quietly, Blake,” he exclaimed 
with emotion. “ I’m sorry for you. I’d have sacrificed all 
I’m worth to save you.” 

“ Yes, I know you would,” Blake answered. “ You would 
have done it for her sake, Hallett,” he added with deep 
emotion. “I deserve nothing from you but curses. I have 
also robbed you, of your dearest hope, as I have robbed her 
of her happiness ” 

“ No, no ! ” cried Elsie, passionately. “ You have taught 
me what happiness is.” 

He turned on her a look of infinite love and re- 
morse. 

“It is true,” he said. “I have ruined the lives of all 
those I loved, of all those who have loved me. I am the 
scapegoat of my generation, the mad, bad Blake. Well, it 


358 


OUTLAW AND LAWMAKER. 


ends with me. I am the last of my name, the last Blake of 
Coola.” 

There was a rush of feet. “ Stand back, Elsie, against 
the rock,” said Blake, hoarsely. ‘‘ Good-bye, my one love,” 
he whispered ; “ pray for me and forgive me. Keep beside 
her, Hallett. Take care of her.” 

He stepped boldly forward to the edge of the precipice. 
At that moment Captain Macpherson’s voice sounded in 
ringing tones, as, with his gun pointed, he appeared round 
the curve of the gallery followed by a black line of troopers, 
the mountings of their carbines glittering in the moonlight. 
“ Stir, and I fire ! Morres Blake, alias Moonlight, in the 
Queen’s name I arrest you.” 

Blake made no answer. With one swift, sudden move- 
ment he threw himself backward and disappeared. They 
heard the thud of his fallen body, a hundred feet below, and 
then a splash as it was swallowed up for ever in the depths 
of the Barolin waterhole. 

And this was the end of Morres Blake, last Baron Coola. 

These things happened a good many years ago. This 
strange tragic episode was felt to be a blot on the history of 
Leichardt’s Land, and the leaders on both sides did their ut- 
most to shroud in mystery the facts of their late Colonial 
Secretary’s double life. By his death Blake had done all he 
could to spare his friends and his adopted country disgrace. 
The Moonlight tragedy was never wholly cleared up. Trant 
disappeared, and was not heard of again. Sam Shehan dis- 
appeared also. Pompo was pardoned, and Jack Nutty had 
been killed by one of the first shots fired that night. Lady 
Waveryng got some of her diamonds, but the rest were gone 
from her descendants for ever. 

Elsie was very ill after the events of that terrible night. 
She had an attack of brain fever, and for weeks all was dark. 
She never knew of the blare of notoriety which surrounded 
her name, and no one ever spoke to her of Moonlight. She 
thought of Blake only as the embodiment of an ideal love, 
and as such in her heart she worshipped his memory, cling- 


“ THE LAST BARON COOL AT 


359 


ing fanatically to the vow she had made to be faithful to 
him to her life’s end. It was a very different Elsie who 
looked on the world when she rose from her sick bed. Life 
was never to her the same again. 

Ina nursed her through her illness, and the Waveryngs 
stayed till danger was over. Then they went back to Eng- 
land, and Ina, who followed with her mother and Elsie, 
joined them later. Elsie and her mother lived mostly at 
Rome, and Elsie developed a latent taste for art, which 
served her in good stead in later days. Ina spent a great 
part of the time she was in Europe with the Waveryngs. 
Elsie never went hack to Australia, but it has been Ina’s lot 
to return to her old haunts on the Luya. Two years after 
her departure, Frank Hallett, a prominent Australian poli- 
tician, took a trip to Europe, and at the Waveryngs met 
again Ina Gage. There he asked her to marry him, and she 
returned with him as his wife. 


THE END. 





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62. The Canadians of Old. A Historical Romance. By Philippe Gasp]§. 

63. A Squire of Low Degree. By Lily A. Long. 

64. A Fluttered Dovecote. By George Manville Fenn. 

65. The Nugents of Cari'iconna. An Irish Story. By Tighe Hopkins. 

66. A Sensitive Plant. By E. and D. Gerard. 

67. Doha Luz. By Juan Valera. Translated by Mrs. Mary J. Serrano. 

68. Pepita Ximenez. By Juan Valera. Translated by Mrs. Mary J. Serrano. 

69. The Primes and their Neighbors. By Richard Malcolm Johnston. 

70. The Iron Game. By Henry F. Keenan. 

71. Stories of Old New Spain. By Thomas A. Janvier. 

72. The Maid of Honor. By Hon. Lewis Wingfield. 

73. In the Heart of the Storm. By Maxwell Gray. 

74. Consequences. By Egerton Castle. 

75. The Three Miss Kings. By Ada Cambridge. 

76. A Matter of Skill. By Beatrice Whitby. 

77. Maid Marian., and other Stories. By Molly Elliot Seawell. 

78. One Woman's Way. By Edmund Pendleton. 

79. A Merciful Divorce. By F. W. Maude. 

80. Stephen Ellicott's Daughter. By Mrs. J. H. Needell. 

81. One Reason Why. By Beatrice Whitby. 

82. The Tragedy of Ida Noble. By W. Clark Russell. 

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84. A Widower Indeed. By Rhoda Broughton and Elizabeth Bisland. 

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86. Love or Money. By Katharine Lee. 

87. Not All in Vain. By Ada Cambridge. 

88. It Happened Yesterday. By Frederick Marshall. 

89. My (Guardian. By Ada Cambridge. 

90. The Story of Philip Methuen. By Mrs, J. H. Needell. 

91. Amethyst: The Story of a Beauty. By Christabel R. Coleridge. 

92. Don Bravlio. By Juan Valera. Translated by Clara Bell. 

93. The Chronicles of Mr. Bill Williams. By Richard Malcolm Johnston. 

94. A Queen of Curds and Cream. By Dorothea Gerard. 

95. “Zot Bella " and Others. By Egerton Castle. 

96. “ December Roses." By Mrs. Campbell-Praed. 

97. Jean de Kerdren. By .Jeanne Schultz. 

98. Etelka's Vow. By Dorothea Gerard. 

99. Cross Currents. By Mary A. Dickens. 

100. His Life's Magnet. By Theodora Elmslie. 

101. Passing the Lore of W&men. By Mrs. J. H. Needell. 

102. In Old St. Stephen's. By Jeanie Drake. 

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107. Hanging Moss. By Paul Lindau. 

108. A Comedy of Elopement. By Christian Reid. 

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110. Stories in Black and White, By Thomas Hardy and Others. 

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131. A Cray Eye or So. By Frank Frankfort Moore. 

132. Earlscourt. By Alexander Allardyce. 

133. A Marriage Ceremony. By Ada Cambridge. 

134. A Ward in Chancery. By Mrs. Alexander. 

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136. Our ManiMd Nature. By Sarah Grand. 

137. A Costly Freak. By Maxwell Gray. 

138. A Beginner. By Rhoda Broughton. 

139. A Yellow Aster. By Iota. 

140. The Rubicon. By E. F. Benson. 

141. The Trespasser. By Gilbert Parker. 

142. The Rich Miss Riddell. By Dorothea Gerard. 

143. Mary FenwicEs Daughter. By Beatrice Whitby. 

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145. A Daughter of Music. By G. Colmore. 

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GEORG EBERS’S ROMANCES. 

Cleopatra. Translated from the German by Mary J. Safpord. 2 volumes. 

A Thorny Path. (Per Aspera.) Translated by Clara Bell. 2 volumes. 
An Egyptian Princess. Translated by Eleanor Grove. 2 volumes. 

Uarda. Translated by Clara Bell. 2 volumes. 

Homo Sum. Translated by Clara Bell. 1 volume. 

The Sisters. Translated by Clara Bell. 1 volume. 

A Question. Translated by Mary J. Safpord. 1 volume. 

The Emperor. Translated by Clara Bell. 2 volumes. 

The Burgomaster’s Wipe. Translated by Mary J. Safpord. 1 volume. 

A Word, only a Word. Translated by Mary J. Safpord. 1 volume. 

Serapis. Translated by Clara Bell. 1 volume. 

I 

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Margery. (Gred.) Translated by Clara Bell. 2 volumes. 

Joshua. Translated by Mary J. Safpord. 1 volume. 

The Elixir, and Other Tales. Translated by Mrs. Edward H. Bell. With 
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HTHE SIMPLE ADVENTURES OE A MEMSA- 

J- HIB. By Sara Jeannette Duncan. With 37 Illustrations 
by F. H. T ownsend. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

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English colony.” — Philadelphia Telegraph. 

“ Another witty and delightful book.” — Philadelphia Times. 



SOCIAL DEPARTURE : How Orthodocia and I 
Went Routid the World by Ourselves. By Sara Jeannette 
Duncan. With in Illustrations by F. H. Townsend. i2mo. 
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N AMERICAN GIRL LN LONDON. By Sara 
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^ By Maarten Maartens, author of “God’s Fool,” “Joost 
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, . . It is, in short, a book which no student of modern literature should fail to read.” 
— Boston Times. 

“ A story of remarkable interest and point.” — New York Observer. 


7 


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ANY IN YENT/ONS. By Rudyard Kipling. 

Containing fourteen stories, several of which are now pub- 
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the full meaning of a dramatic situation.” — New York Iributie. 

‘“Many Inventions’ will confirm Mr. Kipling’s reputation. . . . We would cite 
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" Mr. Kipling’s powers as a story-teller are evidently not diminishing. We advise 
everybody to buy ‘ Many Inventions,' and to profit by some of the best entertainment 
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” ‘ Many Inventions ’ will be welcomed wherever the English language is spoken. 

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and his latest collection, ‘Many Inventions,’ contains several such.” — Philadelphia 
Press. 

“Of late essays in fiction the work of Kipling can be compared to only three — 
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book.” — Chicago Post. 

“ Mr. Kipling’s style is too well known to American readers to require introduction, 
but it can scarcely be amiss to say there is not a story in this collection that does not 
more than repay a perusal of them all.” — Baltnnore American. 

“ As a writer of short stories Rudyard Kipling is a genius. He ha^diad Imitators, 
but they have not been successful in dimming the luster of his achievements by con- 
trast. . . . ‘Many Inventions’ is the title. And they are inventions — entirely origi- 
nal in incident, ingenious in plot, and startling by their boldness and force.’^ — Rochester 
Herald. 

“ How clever he is ! This must always be the first thought on reading such a 
collection of Kipling’s stories. Here is art — art of the most consummate sort. Com- 
pared with this, the stories of our brightest young writers become commonplace.”— 
New York Evangelist. 

• ** Taking the group as a whole, it may be said that the execution is up to his best 

in the past, while two or three sketches surpass in rounded strength and vividness ol 
imagination anything else he has done.” — Hartford Cotirani. 

Fifteen more extraordinary sketches, witlwut a tinge of sensatiojialism, it would 
be h'trd to find. . . . Every one has an individuality of its e ivn which fascinates tho 
readter. — Boston Tunes. 


New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue. 


Climbing in the Himalayas. 

By William Martin Conway, M. A., F. R. G. S,, Vice-Presi- 
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University College, Liverpool. With Map and 300 Illus- 
trations. 8vo. Cloth, $10.00. 

This work contains a minute record of one of the most important 
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years in mountaineering work — proved splendid training for him. 
Already the author of nine published books, he has recorded his dis- 
coveries in this volume in the clear, incisive, and thrilling language 
of an expert. 

Cleopatra. 

A ROMANCE. By Georg Ebers, author of ‘‘Uarda,” “An 
Egyptian Princess,” etc. In two volumes. i6mo. Cloth, 
$1.50 ; paper, 80 cents. 

In “Cleopatra” Dr. Ebers offers to the public one of the most im- 
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by an enthusiasm, as well as a mastery of historical coloring, which 
will place “ Cleopatra” among his most popular works. 


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